Fame And Fortune Weekly (no. 557) (1916 06 02)
The text was read from the page scans by machine (OCR), so it has mistakes and its columns may run together. See the pages · About this title · At the Internet Archive
Page 1
FLOYD JUNE 2, i916 pat " sTORIES OF BOYS THAT MAKE MONEY. or, JHE BOY By 4 CELE -MALE [YYW AWD SHER. STORIES if 5 Si, a ES \ ® INN ww ng the axe aside, Dick seized the barrel ried to dislodge it from its hiding-place, “Gee whiz!” exclaimed Casperfield. “It’s chock full of money.” Such was the fact, and Bonnie Barton uttered a little shriek of delight.
Page 2
a ee | | ve eat wv*;4 —_ = ea } co Ae
Page 3
Fame and Fortune Weekly ~ STORIES OF BOYS WHO MAKE MONEY Issued Weekly—By Subscription $2.50 per year. Entered at the New York, N. Y., Post Office as Second-Olass Matter Frank Tousey, Publisher, 168 West 23d Street, New York. NEW YORK, JUNE 2, 1916. Price 5 Cents. A Freak of Fortune ies; |: eases »,, THE BOY WHO STRUCK LUCK Wy ~SUT,, 7 By A SELF-MADE MAN F hay | ict se CHAPTER L. LIo Once upon a time George Brand had been a fairly industrious mechanic—that was when he paid court to, and finally mar- ried, the pretty young widow of Jack Leslie, an enterprising carpenter and builder,.who had come to an untimely death “Is supper ready, mother? I’m as hungry as a hunter,” cried | through a fall from a house he was building in the village. Dick Leslie, bustling into a modest-looking cottage on the sub- Brand, being naturally shiftless, was easily led from the path urbs of a good-sized and wide-awake village in the Golden| of industry by the specious arguments of a demagogue who West, hanging his cap on a convenient hook and grabbing the| drifted into the village, took up his temporary residence at little, sad-faced woman, who welcomed him with a sweet smile,| Smith’s tavern, and put in a large part of his time expounding THE BLACK SLOOP. around the waist, gave her a hearty hug and kiss. “Yes, Dick, ready and waiting. Did you see your father anywhere in the village?” asked his mother, with an anxious expression. “No, mother,” replied the boy, with a frown. Mr. Brand since morning.” Diek never called his mother’s second husband father. And for a good reason. Mr. Brand was not a man who appealed to his love and respect in any way. He was an idle, good-for-nothing individual, with a surly dis- position, and a deep-seated grouch against the world in general, and his stepson in particular. , He hated the world because everybody seemed to be more prosperous than himself—a fact not much to be wondered at considering how he conducted himself. He disliked Dick Leslie because the sturdy, good-looking and intelligent boy wasn’t his own flesh and blood, ‘and continually reminded him of a better man than himself. Dick practically supported his mother and stepfather with the small wages he received as clerk in the principal general store of the village. He wouldn’t have been able to do this but for the fact that his mother owned the little cottage and the acre of land sur- rounding it. A bone of contention between Mr. Brand and his wife was her persistent refusal to mortgage this small property so that her husband could go into some easy business that suited his tastes. . Had bis intentions to try and support the family been honest, it is not unlikely that his wife might have yielded to his solici- tations; but she had good reason for distrusting nis promises to reform. : Probably the real cause for Mr. Brand being down on his stepson was the fact that Dick had long since refused to turn bis wages over to him as master of the house. - Had the boy done so most of it would have gone into the till of Smith, the tavern-keeper, and the little family would have ~ fared poorly indeed—not that they lived any too sumptuously it was, Mrs. Brand haying a continual struggle to make “T haven't seen his theories based on the inequalities of life, and the unfair, as he termed it, distribution of wealth and labor. His oratory made such an impression on Mr. Brand that he | gradually shirked his daily toil and soon became a regular visitor at the tavern, often remaining there until the place was closed at eleveu at night. Of course, as soon as Mr. Brand ceased to work, money ceased to flow in his direction, and the result was that Dick Leslie had to finish his schooling in a hurry and take advantage of a situation offered him by Mr. Simpson, who ran the general store. Dick had now been werking a year at the store, and his employer often declared that the lad was so smart and honest that he Wouldn't lose him for a farm. “He hasn't been home all day,” said Mrs. Brand, in answer to her son's reply. “That isn’t anything unusual, is it?” answered Dick, as he took his seat at the table and began to eat. “No,” she replied mournfully. “I'll bet I could find him at the tavern if I went there,” went on Dick. “He drinks up all he earns, when he feels disposed, to work, and every cent you can make you give up.” “He gets very little from me,” replied his mother. “I can't spare any money. I am trying to save a bit now to meet the tax bill, which is overdue.” “He ought to be ashamed of himself,” said Dick, indignantly; _ “but I’m afraid there is no shame in him.” ¢ Mrs. Brand sighed as she poured out a cup of tea for herself. “TI never mean to drink a glass of spirits as long as I live, mother,” said Dick, resolutely. ri “I hope you never will, my son,” replied Mrs. Brand, with solemn earnestness. “It is a terrible curse and misfortune to any one who yields to the temptations of the liquor habit. Its victims fill the poorhouses of*the country and paupers’ graves, It leads to crime and a cell in the penitentiary, and often to the hangman’s noose. than anything else I know of in the world. Had my first a band, your father, lived, things would have been very different with us. He never drank anything stronger than an ocea- sional mug of cider. and be was an industrious, home-loy It is responsible for more real distress — mau. il am sure you take after him, Dick, and it is a great <a a Ss aa . ae " ed : “Fy es aes
Page 4
comfort to me that you do. It would break my heart if you were anything like Mr. Brand.” “Don’t fear, mother, it isn’t in me to imitate my stepfather. It is my great ambition to succeed in life, and no boy can do that unless he is willing to put his shoulder to the wheel and hustle. The older I grow the more I hope to do for you. If Mr. Brand won't support you, I will. As long as I can peg away you shall not be in danger of actual want. It is lueky you own this house. We have no landlord to hold a club over our heads.” “It is a great blessing.” replied his mother. “Your poor father provided well for us during the few years he was per- mitted to do so. I have been greatly deceived in Mr. Brand, but as we make our beds we must lie on them,” in a resigned tone. “Never mind, mother, there are better times in store for you. I will soon be a man, and able to earn a man’s wages, and then you will fare better.” Dick, having finished his supper, got up from the table. “I'm going over to the Casperfield farm to see Joe, mother,” said Dick, reaching for his cap. “Very well, my son. You won't be away late, will you?” “Of course not, for I’ve got to get up early in order to” be at the store on time.” Thus speaking, Dick passed out of the house and took the road that led away from the village. After walking a quarter of a mile he turned into a lane that took him close to the head of the creek connecting with Silver Lake, a large and beautiful body of water on which Haywoods Village was situated. The long summer day was just drawing to its close, but it was still quite light, and Dick expected to reach the Casperfield farm before dusk had given way to night. This was Thursday, the day on which Dick left the store early—that is, five o’clock; on other days he worked till eight. The head of the creek was a lonesome, marshy spot, plenti- fully wooded, and was seldom visited by any one. ' The only reason that Dick went that way was because it was a short-cut from the road to the Casperfield farmhouse, consequently he and his friend Joe were accustomed to pass the spot quite often. As Dick approached the upper section of the creék on this occasion he was surprised to see, through an opening in the trees, the mast and halliards of a small sailing craft. ‘She was evidently moored as high up as she could go, and in a position where she was not likely to attract observation. Dick thought it was a strange place for a boat to be and, his curiosity being excited, he left the beaten path and walked over to the trees to take a look at her. . Making his way through the bushes, he at length came out into an open spot to where the vessel was secured to fee stump of a dead tree near the stream. Dick was something of a fresh-water sailor in a pata way; that is, he could handle small sailboats with considerable skill, having passed a good deal of his time on the lake until he went _ to work at Mr. Simpson’s store. — It is not strange, therefore, that he had a strong interest in everything connected with the water. ° _. The craft in question was sloop-rigged, and was painted a - dead black, that time and the weather had somewhat rusted. Her mainsail, which hung loose about the boom, just as it had been lowered, and her jib, lying in a heap on the short bowsprit, were old and dirty. j There was a small main hatch, which was covered, and a scuttle forward, ‘between which it and the bowsprit projected Aor pe that indicated the presence of a sort of galley under ma was steered by an ordinary tiller, the wood of which was aan m constant handling. “was pointed downstream, and the narrowness of me ogy bo waterway at this ad showed that she had been pulled ap some distance by the stern. Dick, as he viewed her critically, fore and aft, could not wonder why she had been brought up to such a dreary and requented spot. ; bs something to learn why she is lying way up ere,” tae ‘at arth sea tok t the siding e's any! a ° 2 at the ‘ -~ she concluded, A FREAK OF FORTUNE “What in thunder are you spying around here for?” He wheeled around and faced the scowling face of—his step- father. CHAPTER II. THE RED-HEADED MAN, Dick was astonished to see Mr. Brand in this out-of-the-way place. When he wasn’t doing an odd job to raise a little money he was hanging around the tavern. At any rate, he wasn’t in the habit of wandering out of the village. “You here, Mr. Brand?” Dick ejaculated. “Yes, I’m here,” growled his stepfather. here? Why ain’t you at the store?” — ’ “I’m always off Thursdays at five.” “Then why ain’t you home?” “T was home for snpper. I’m now on my way to the Casper- field farm.” ~* “Oh, you are?” replied his father, looking at him sus- piciously. .“What’s taking you there, I'd like to know?” _ “Tm going to call on my friend Joe.” “T reckon there’s a lane leading from the road, quarter of a mile farther on, that goes to the farm. Why didn’t you take it if you’re going there?” “Because this way is shorter.” “Thinking of crossing the marsh, I suppose?” said Mr. Brand, with an ugly grin. “Of course not. The marsh isn’t passable on foot.” “T know it isn’t.” “Then why did you ask me such a foolish question?” “Just to see how much of a liaw you are.” “You've never known me to lie yet, Mr. Brand,” replied Dick, indignantly. “You're lying when you say you came to this creek because it’s a short road to the Casperfield farm. You couldn't follow this creek no farther than a dozen feet,\and you know it as well as I do.” “I didn’t expect to follow the creek. ’ 'There’s a path on the other side of these trees. I was walking along that.” “Why didn’t you stick to it, then? What brought you here, butting into what doesn’t concern you?” *T happened to see the mast and rigging of this sloop through the trees and, thinking it a queer place for a vessel to be, I came over to ‘take a look at her.” “Well, you haven’t any business to come over and look at her,” snarled Mr. Brand. “Why not?” asked Dick, in a surprised tone. “What differ- ence does it make?” “It makes’a lot of difference.” ta you know anything about this sloop?” None of your business whether I do or not,” replied Mr. Brand, angrily. “All right,” answered Dick, eeateg with his stepfather’s surliness. “I won't bother you any more. I'm going on to the farm,” At this moment a shock of red hair, a smoothly shaven, tough-looking countenance, and a pair of ox-like shoulders, rose out of the companionway opening to the cabin of the sloop, and a coarse voice demanded to kmow who were rant “Tt’s-mie and that young monkey of a stepson of mine,” plied Mr. Brand, in replying to the hail. Apparently, Dick’s stepfather was acquainted with the man on the sloop. “What's he doin’ here, Brand?” said the red-headed indi- vidual in no pleasant way. “I thought you knew better than to bring him along.” : “T didn’t bring him, I found him here.” “You found him here, eh? Then he was spyin’ around. Tryin’ to find out somethin’, so he could carry tales.” » “I don't know what he was doing. All I know is he hasn't any business here, and I was just pulling him over the coals for coming. The red-headed man extricated the. rest of his husky body from the mee cdg Sea and ee ashore, with a scowl on his face. Three strides carried him to where Dick was talking to bis — stepfather. “Look here, young feller, what began yer nosin’ scan these eye ae he asked, sharply. “What brings you e - er < AN te
Page 5
creek. I never saw one up this way before.” “Oh, yer didn’t? What business is it of yours whether a vessel is anchored up this way or not?” “Tt isn’t any of my business.” “But yer made it yer business to try and find out what she was doin’ here, didn’t yer?” “No, I didn’t. I was just looking her over out of curosity.” - “So yer’d know her agin if yer saw her, eh?” ' “7 didn’t think about such a thing.” ba eee anybody tell yer this sloop was anchored here?” 1 - “Then what’s yer reason for comin’ over to the creek?” Dick repeated to him the same explanation of his presence in that locality that he had given his stepfather. He couldn't help beginning to suspect that there must be _ something wrong with the sloop because of the persistent ques- tioning on the part of both Mr. Brand and the red-headed man, who were certainly acquainted with each other, They both appeared to resent his intrusion on the spot, though Dick couldn't see what difference it made at all. The red-headed man listened to his statement with evident » disbelief. “Yer think yer kin hoodwink me, do yer? Well, I’m too old a bird to be caught with chaff. I’ve cut my eye-teeth long ago. afore you were born.” : “Don't you believe what I say?” “No, I don’t.” “All right,” replied Dick, indifferently. way.” a Having no further interest in- femaining on the spot, he - started to walk away. / “Hold hard, young feller; yer ain’t goin’ off in such an all- fired hurry as that!” cried the red-headed man, reaching out - and grabbing him by the arm. What's the matter with you?” demanded Dick, trying to -. shake himself free. “Don’t yer worry about me. @ rush?” “IT was going about my business. arm.” . “Have it your own Where was yer goin’ in such Take your hand off my _ “Jest hear the young bantam crow!” sneered the tough-look- ing man. “Do yer allow him to talk back to yer in that way at _ the house, Brand?” he added, looking at Dick’s stepfather _ Mr. Brand scowled, but made no reply. “Are you going to let me go?” asked Dick, angrily. , haven’ t got any right to treat me in this way.” ’ Fle was too proud to appeal to his stepfather, even if he had “had any idea that Mr. Brand might have made any movement in his behalf. As it was, however, his mother’s second husband showed very little disposition to interfere. “No, I'm not goin’ to let yer go till I'm good | and ready, see? =< And I reckon Ul treat yer jest as it suits me.” “You “I haven't interfered with you in any way. but you're _ treating me in an outrageous manner. I guess there must be wrong about you and your old sloop or “ag wouldn't “Be so » inquisitive as to my reasons for being | in this neighbor- Se Sc "This was an unlucky speech of Dick's. ne ‘Phe man, with a wrathful imprecation, suddenly aa bis fist and struck him a heayy blow on the side of the head. sae watery tine iin Sette re a gee He reeled, grasped wae at the air and fell flat on. the er, Soh: CHAPTER nr. ~ | ay THE HoLD oF THE BLack SLOOP. 2s a brutal and cowardly blow, and if ‘tp. Brand bed i spark of decent feeling about he would at least have rotes! ed nga’ tal companions. savage ep unealled-for as- % Th. A FREAK OF FORTUNE. Ese “To see what kind of a vessel was moored so far up ene pws unable to wipe gut himself, he was glad to see somebody else do him up. “You hit him a ptetty hard wallop, Sykes.” chuckled Mr. Brand. “I guess hell remember that fist of yours for some time to come.” “I reckon he will, Brand. There don’t seem to be no love lost between you and him,” grinned the red-headed man. “T should say not. I hate the measly cub. I haven’t been _ “Maybe you'll regret handling me in this fashion,” retorted. able to get him to cough up a cent of his wages since he went to work,” remarked Mr. Brand, in an injured tone. “My good money helped to raise him from a kid, and that’s the way he turns on me.” “Ain't you boss of yer own roost?” asked Sykes, with a con- temptuous leer. “Ot course I'm the boss,” chest. “Then why don’t yer take the boy’s wages away from him if he won't part with the stuff willin’ly?” “The old woman would put up a big howl\if I did that, as she thinks the sun, moon and stars rise and set in that kid.” “What need you care? set up her toot, I’d give her a tap or two on the jaw, and I'll wager she’d close up as tight as a clam after that. I wouldn't stand no foolin’ from any woman. The trouble with you, Brand, yer don’t put yer foot down hard enough. Well, what are we goin’ to do with this precious stepson of yours? If we let him go he’s sure to tell about this sloop bein’ moored up here. Then to-morrow ‘mornin’, when to-night’s work at the bank is discovered, suspicion will at once point in our direc- tion, and we may not be able to get away as easily as we've | counted on.” “TI don’t care what you do with him,” answered Brand. “Then we'd better tie his hands behind his back and keep him a prisoner in the hold till we get ready to shake the sloop for good. Then you kin come back to the village if yer want to with yer share of the plunder, and live like a swell guy. The boy, when he gets back, won't give you away on account of yer connection with the family. If yer was arrested and clapped in jail it would disgrace him and the old woman. So he’s safe to keep his jaw closed.” *All right,” replied Brand. “We'll tie him and keep him in the hold. He won’t learn for sure that we've had anything to do with robbing the Haywoods Bank. If you look after him yourself—that is, take him his grub and such—he needn’t know that I’m aboard the sloop at all.” Sykes favored his companion with an unpleasant look, as if he thought that Mr. Brand was taking a selfish interest in his own welfare. replied Brand, throwing out his “IT reckon we ain’t got no time to lose, for the kid will soon © get his senses back. Go down into the cabin and yer'll find: a piece of rope in the starboard locker. I'll truss him up in short order.” Brand hastened aboard the sloop to get the rope. He had no trouble in finding it, and the senseless boy was soon bound hand and foot. Then, between them, they lifted Dick and carried him onto the vessel's deck. Sykes took the cover off the hatchway, jumped into the hold and disappeared. ~ In a few minutes he came back to the hatch. eee me the kid,” he said, holding up his arms to catch ie boy. Mr. Brand raised Dick and lowered him over the combings _ of the hatch. The red-headed man received Dick in bis muscular grasp, earried him over to w a pile of sacks were bunched in a corner of the hold near eabin bulkhead, and dropped warty ;onsthem as he might have done a sack of potatoes. . ‘Then he left the hold and replaced the hateh cover, lea Dick to recover his wits at his leisure and in the k. ; It might have been ten minutes later that the boy ms | his_senses. eae. | He found himseif stretched-out on something softer than the ground, and in a place that was evidently enclosed, for fete was no sign of the sky, and the atmosphere was close and wa while he was surrounded by a dense gloor. 7 ; “Where am I at now?” be asked himself, as alk } fe mi out his hands and rise, only to discover thar behind his back. “My gracious!” he eja oner! My ankles are tied together also. “sun we wolceaee | Segment, I must say. Mr. headed aeetyeed a party to- He and that r ; pM ied If I was in your shoes, and the wife ~ Fetch it here and i
Page 6
4 _——_ ys away after discovering the presence of the sloop in such an out- of-the-way spot as the head of the creek. - I'd give something to learn what their game is and what they intend to do about me.” As Dick didn’t enjoy the sensation of having his arms se- _ cured in.such an awkward way, he naturally tried to see if he ‘couldn't work them loose. At first his efforts in this direction met with little success, but he was a persevering boy and, after tugging at the rope and working his wrists around, he finally succeeded in draw- ing one of his hands out of limbo. The other hand easily followed and his arms were at liberty. Then he put his hand in his pocket, got out his jack-knife and severed the cord that held his feet together. “Free at last!” he exclaimed, with a feeling of great satis- faction. “It makes a fellow feel good to turn.a trick on his persecutors. I’m thinking Mr. Brand and his husky associate _ will have to rise pretty early in the morning in order to get the best of me. Now I guess I’ll be able to find out where I am.” He had a small box of matches in his vest pocket, and . Striking one of them, the glare gave him a line on his sur- roundings. “Why, I’m in the hold of the sloop. that,” he cried. K The place was littered with odds and ends of rope. sailcloth, blocks, old boxes, and other articles sit the around haphazard upon a lot of pig-iron ballast. “The next thing will .be to make my escape from this prison pen, without my stepfather and his rascally companion be- coming wise to the fact in time to prevent me. I should like to i treat them to a nice little surprise. They’d feel like thirty cents if, when they came down here to. look after me, they found that their bird had flown the coop.” . Diek chuckled as he imagined their discomfiture. >! “However, I mustn't count my chickens before they’re Batched,” he added. “I’m not out of the place yet. Maybe I _ won't be able to get out after all.” The cabin bulkhead was right behind him, while another bulkhead forward separated the hold from the galley in the I might have guessed forepeak. _ . “Phe only way out, I judge, is by way of a hatch, the cover - . of which is on. If it is secured on the outside, I am effectually ae | trapped. But, as they took the-precaution to bind me so care- fully, possibly ‘they did not consider it necessary to fasten the eA ‘hatch. At any rate, I mean to investigate the matter right away. It must be quite dark by this time, which will favor my - efforts to get away.” ; He was about to make a move for Vokiiches when he heard .: - -yoices in the cabin behind him. -. “That must be my respected stepfather and the red-headed man talking together. I wonder if I’m the subject of the con- _versation? I'd like to hear what they're saying,” breathed ee with no little curiosity. Hf examined the bulkhead until he found a convenient knot- ole. Through this he peered and saw Mr. Brand and Sykes sit- ting on opposite sides of a small table, which stood in the center the cabin. “Then he placed his ear to the hole and listened attentively. He had no difficulty in making out all the men said. “We'll. -drop down the creek about one. o’clock,” Sykes was . “That will bring us to the wharf I have picked out in half an hour or so, and we'll be able to reach the rear of bank by two, when every one in the village is sound asleep. 2 ought to have a clear field before us. A jimmy will soon : us into the bank buildin’, and I'll bet we'll catch the watch- a uae. It — be a small matter to bind and gag him I’ve the tools that'll. open ‘the short Bek one and then all we'll have to do is to clean the out as slick as a whistie. I look on this job as a regular for a chap of my experience, and there isn’t one chance in ndred that anybody will be able to trace the matter to us. ne will suspeet you, at any rate, unless it might be that : m of yours, and he won t say a word for the sake of his old w ee zood excuse for tanning his pee og Gari bet he'll = long as he lives.” — | skylight over the table. — : esa sy ive by a ye hssiind ined A FREAK OF FORTUNE. . “Sure he'll be safe. He’s bound fast enough, and with the hatch-cover on there isn’t any any chance at all of his givin’ us the slip or findin’ out what we’re up to.” “Suppose somebody sheuld go aboard the vessel and look around while we're at the bank?” “What! at two in the mornin’? Don’t you worry. There won't be a soul near that wharf beforé daylight, and we'll be off down the lake by that time.” The two men continued to talk about their nocturnal enter- prise for a while longer, and then Sykes got up and said he guessed he would start in and cook supper. He told Brand to take the crockery, knives and forks, and so-forth, out of one of the lockers and set the table, and then he left the cabin and went forward to the forepeak, CHAPTER IV. ‘ HOW A SAUCEPAN GOT JOE CASPERFIELD IN TROUBLE. ‘ Dick was both astonished and disturbed at what he had eard. So his stepfather and the red-headed man were going to try and rob the village bank that night. While he was too well aware that Mr. Brand was a person entitled to very little respect by reason of his shiftless ways ~ and drinking habit, he had never suspected that his morals were so loose that he could be led into actual crime. The terrible discovery that the man to whom his mother was bound by the sacred tie of wife was on the eve of embarking in a criminal enterprise that would bring him within the shadow of the law and subject him, if caught, to a considerable term in the State Prison, fairly staggered Dicik. He felt that the disgrace of it all would almost kill his mother, and he determined that he must try and prevent-his stepfather from mixing himself up in the matter. But how was he to do this? — - Mr. Brand had already compromised himself in the eyes of his rascally associate by consenting to help him loot the bank. Still that, while bad enough, was not as bad as if he ac- tually engaged in the affair. It was a serious problem to Dick how he was yoing to inter- fere in the matter with any degree of success. “T must get away at once and see Mr. Tewksbury, the head constable. He's a good friend of mother’s, and no doubt he'll be able to figure out some plan to save my stepfather before he has committed himself too far.” Dick struck another match and cautiously looked for the hatch. As soon as he located it he ‘brought a couple of boxes un- derneath it so that he could reach it easily. Before proceeding further he slipped up to the forward bulkhead and listened. From the sounds that reached his ears he judged that the red-headed man had lighted a fire in the small stove and was preparing the meal. Satisfied that the rascal was busily ‘employed with his culi- nary duties, Dick got on the boxes and tried the hatch, with anxious expectation. If it was fastened down by a heavy weight he could do nothing. He pressed against the hatch-cover and, to lis great satis- faction, it yielded to his touch and rose upward. He did not dare lift it more thari a couple of inches wet he could see whether the deck was deserted. There were several circumstances against him. ? It was a warm, calm night, and though the moon was not up, the sky was so cleur and resplendent with stars that objects of any size were visible for some distance aronnd the spot. Clearly, he couldn't hope to escape observation if either Mr. Brand or the red-headed man happened to raise his head above the deck the moment he was making his break for freedom, — and such a contingency was as likely to happen as. not. ing “IT guess I'd better wait a while. ”. thought Dick. “No use of — spoiling everything by rushing matters. When they start to ~ eat their supper in the cabin will be a good time to make aH #: venture.” — So Dick got down from his perch and took up his position at c the knothole in the eabin bulkhead. Mr. Brand “had lighted a lantern” and hung it from the ‘small ‘He had also set the table in a rough way—a , : side of the table, with its attendant knife and fork; a cup. iy 3. Canty: oe a:
Page 7
densed milk, pepper and salt receptacles, and a cruet contain- ing some dark-colored stuff. A newspaper answered the purpose of a tablecloth. The odor of steak and fried onions now permeated the hold, and Dick figured that the meal would soon be transferred to the cabin. | Ife waited impatiently for that-moment to come. The possibility that the red-headed man might take 2 notion to yisit the hold to see that the prisoner was safe before he sat down to eat somewhat disqnieted the boy, for in that case the rascal was bound to discover that he was free from his : ge and what would happen then was not pleasant to think of, Mikes Tiowever, he determined not to be subdued again without a 3 stiff fight, and he hoped that he would be able to find some- thing in the hold that would answer for a serviceable weapon. The clatter in the forepeak continued for a while longer, and then Skyes made several trips between that spot and the cabin. Once more Dick placed his eyes to the knothole in the cabin bulkhead and saw that the two men were at supper. “Now js my time to get away,” he thought. “If I’m cautious they'll never get onto me.” Then something happened that he had not calculated on. Sykes had left a small saucepan on the hatch, and as soon as Dick tilted the cover it slid off and rolled along the deck with a lively clatter. Dick stood for a moment aghast at the disturbance, and then, hearing an exclamation from the red-headed man, to- gether with the sound of a moving stool as the fellow sprang to his feet and rushed up the steps to investigate the cause _ of the wnexpected noise, he dropped the cover back, hastily _ dismounted from the boxes, which he softly moved aside, and _ slipped over to the couch of bagging and lay down on it. He expected nething else than the immediate lifting of the |! wae and the appearance of the hard-looking ruffian in the old. & Nothing like that happened, but something else did. + When Sykes reached the deck he looked around, with an eye _ sharpened by experience. : The first thing that caught his glance was the saucepan, r bottom side up, on the deck. bd He remembered. then that he had left it on the hatch. Phe next thing he saw was the indistinct figure of a boy in wi the near distance. _ -‘With an exclamation of anger, he jumped to the conclusion that their prisoner had in some unaccountable manner man- -- aged to free himself, had slipped out of the hatch, disturbing ; the saucepan, and was making off as fast as he could. ‘He shouted down the companionway to Mr. Brand and, elearing the space between the sloop and the shore, started in t : 7 The boy bad stopped on hearing the racket, as if surprised --at the circumstance, and the red-headed man had no difficulty - in coming up with him. As the woods cast a gloom over the spot where he stood, es thes did not at once see that this was a different boy alto- ¢ er... & He conclnded that the supposed Dick, perceiving that he “would be overtaken, had stopped to put up a fight. Sykes believed that the first blow counted best and, rushing at the boy, hit him a jab in the jaw that sent the astonished FeanS stranger to the ground. -“Yerll try to get away, eh?” roared the red-headed man, triumphantly. “Thought you'd do the sneak act while we was vie our guard. You see, it didn’t work. That saucepan gave & away, and now yer'll go back to yer coop agin. This time et yer.” i seized the dazed lad by the collar of the jacket and hauled “ross to the schooner’s deck, where Mr. Brand was await- ds eed of a situation that he did not quite compre- r. = a precious stepson was givin’ us the slip on the quiet, nt he didn’t batt far, all the same,” growled Sykes. ae oe at the prisoner, and then exclaimed: Diag. Sole hp: pe friend, Joe ean A FREAK. OF FORTUNE. 5 . creek 7” 1 the Fer so tight that, yer won't make no second attempt, Tl | man. gaa 1G Spr 10 Se, eee aee this serape The feb men stared at him without replying. “T took yer for somebody else,” growled Sykes, at length. “Do you know that you thumped me in the jaw?” said Cas- perfield, as he got on his feet. “What do you want to hit a fellow my size for, you big coward?” “Shut up!” snarled Sykes. “I’m in no humor to take any of your sass. Since you ain’t the chap I took yer for, yer’d better get a move on and clear out.” Joe was about to resent this rough language, for he was a plueky little chap, when he recognized Dick’s stepfather, whom he knew well but did not like. “Why, is that you, Mr. Brand? Do you know if Dick is at the house? He promised to come over and see me to-night. I got tired of waiting for him and was just going over to your cottage to see why he hasn’t shown up.” “No, I don’t know nothing about him,” answered Mr. in a sulky tone. “Then you don’t know where he went after supper?" per- sisted Joe. . “No, I don’t.” Joe started to go, when -it suddenly struck him that this sloop was moored in a strange place. He stopped and looked her over in a way Sykes didn’t like. “What yer lookin’ at?” he demanded aggressively. “I'm looking at this sloop. What is she doing so far up the Brand, “None of yer blamed business tex she’s doin’ here,” re torted Sykes. “Git!” Joe judged from his threatening manner that that was the best thing for him to do, and he was about to step ashore when Dick, who had been attracted underneath the hatch by the conversation he had heard going on, yelled out: : ee “Hel-lo, Joe! I’m a prisoner in the hold.” i -The air being so still, every word came distinctly to the ears | : of those on deck. ~. ““Why, that’s Dick’s voice now!” cried Joe, in great surprise. “His voice came right up through the hatch. What's the mean- ing of this, Mr. Brand?” he concluded, suspiciously. a “Git ashore, will yer?” roared Sykes, grabbing Joe by the a4 arm and trying to force him over the side. A : “I won’t go ashore till I understand what this means,” re plied Joe, pluckily. ave pe Helio, Joe! Hello!” came Dick’s voice again. st" “Yer won't go, eh?” snarled Sykes, raising his hairy fist’ RS a “Why is Dick shut up in the hold of this sloop, Mr. Brand?" _ asked. Joe, turning to his chum’s stepfather. ‘You just told me that you didn’t know anything about him... You'd better let Dick out or I'll see to it that he does get out.” } “Yer will, you little monkey!” gritted Sykes. “I’ve, stood all the sass I’m goin’ to from yer. If yer’d known when yer was Well off yer’d have dusted when L told yer to first. Now — yer’ve got to take the consequences.” xg ae ad “What do you mean?” asked Joe, stepping back. +e “Tl show yer what I mean, you measly cub!” answered Sykes. springing on him and bearing him to the deck. “Yer'll go and keep yer friend company in the hold, and see how ee F like to be shut up there yourself.” Sykes turned Joe over and, placing his knee in the small ot his back, snatched up a piece of rope and bound his arms eased behind him. “Pull off that hatch, Brand,” he said, sharply. “ don't yer do as I tell yer?” he roared, as Dick's stepfather hesita' Mr. Brand obeyed the order, seemingly as if he did not. ap- prove of the proceedings, and Sykes’ lifted Joe up bodily lowered him down into the hold. “Now go and find yer rs ao Se yer young k said the red-headed man, slamming the batcn-cove?. Uh [ then looking around for something to put on fop_ of ie extra preeaution. He thought of the water-keg in the forepeak and, get placed it where he thought it would do the most good he and Brand returned to the cabin to finish thefr roping supper, which waz rather cold by this time, : CHAPTER VY. pa ie eee ON THE EVE OF A CRIME cg “Hello, Joe!” said Dick, coming up and the arm, as the er was replaced by But never mind; vee asd out of
Page 8
6 A FREAK OF FORTUNE. out his knife and slashing away at the rope that held Joe's arms together, In a moment or two Joe was free of his bonds. Then Dick hurriedly told him how he had got into his un- pleasant fix. “Now wait here till I take a look into the cabin through a knothole. If both Mr. Brand and his companion are in there we'll make an effort to get out. just as I was about to do before you turned up, only I was balked by a saucepan that the red- f headed ruffian must have left on the hatch. It rolled off with . a racket that brought the rascal on deck. Then it seems he caught you, thinking it was me making my escape. I'll be back in a moment.” Dick fownd that his stepfather and Sykes were busily making up for lost time at the table, so he lost no time putting ‘= the two boxes into position again, climbing up and shoving at Fe -the hatch-cover. This time he was greatly disappointed to find that it resisted his efforts. “Gee!” he muttered. “They’ve put a weight on it. I guess Joe and me together can lift it, but it won’t do to try, for whatever it is would be sure to make a noise when it slipped off, wes and then the fat would be in the fire for fair.” So he dismounted and laid the boxes aside again. - “We can't get out for the present, Joe,” he said. “There’s e something on the hatch-cover, holding it down. We'll have to “Ae wait and trust to luck.” Then he asked his ehum to tell him how he happened to run foul of the red-headed man. “Why, it was this way,” explained Joe. “I got tired of wait- ing for you to show up at the house, as you promised to do, and I was on the way to your home to find out why you hadn’t come. As I was passing the corner of the wood I heard a racket in the direction of the head of the creek. It must have been Pe. that saucepan you say you knocked off the hatch. Then I : heard a man’s Voice shouting out something. I had no idea + that there was anybody, much less a vessel, at this end of the _— eveek, I stopped to listen. Then that big ruffian came rushing toward me. He never said a word, but knocked me down with a blow from his heavy. fist before I had any suspicion of what was going to happen. Then, after saying something about me trying to get away, he dragged me aboard this sloop. I guess _ you must have heard what followed. He had attacked me by mistake, thinking I was you, but I didn’t get onto his blunder, for IT was hopping mad. If you hadn't yelled out, I guess I should have got off all right, but then I wouldn’t haye known you were a prisoner in this hold.” “To tell the truth, I’m glad you're here, Joe, for‘ we may be _-able to queer the game my stepfather and the red-headed man are up to.” _ -“What game are-they up to?” “They have planned to rob the Haywoods Bank to-night.” _ “What!” gasped Joe. “Your stepfather has planned to rob ‘the village bank?” “No; the other fellow has done the planning, and seems to be # regular crook. 1 regret to say, though, that he seems to be an acquaintance of Mr. Brand’s, and has induced him to go into the scheme. Now, Joe, you won't let that fact get out if , gates himself any further in the enterprise, will you?” ne J won't. Did you find out how they’re going to work job? lick told him what little he had overheard about the men’s "Hoe do you expect to choke them off?” ‘ don't know just how I'll be able to do it now. If I had ot when I started to leave the hold, I intended to hunt ip yr. Tewksbury and put the matter up to him. He would eitonnd some way of heading off the robbery without ar- z Mr. Brand, which he wouldn’t like to do for the disgrace id bring on mother and me. Now.I guess we must try find some way between us.” us fe all I can to help you, Dick. You know I’m your : ea ¥ know you are, Joe. That's why I'm going to rely on elp me save my ae from the consequences of sii conduct.” Oct can rely on me all right.” Bi ae hat moment the twe men, having finished their. supper, . and the boys heard them walking around over- 1 the bags and w ni tal t over,” said Dick, ger a oe Sp beet tad Ye ra et t take if we can put a spoke in this affair before my stepfather impli- | asleep at this hour. of ym iso ‘- poses I am still in that shape. And as he dropped you in here with your arms bound, he won't for a moment imagine that we can free each other. Believing us to be perfectly helpless, he may not bother with us any more to-night. If he doesn’t, we'll stand a good show of getting out of our hobble.” It was decided between them that nothing could be done - until the sloop dropped down the creek, sailed over to the wharf selected, and the two men departed on their burglarious errand. Then as soon as the coast was clear they would break out of the hold, follow their captors to the bank, and try*to put a stop to the attempt to loot the institution. At intervals the boys heard Sykes and Brand pacing the deck over their heads. When their footsteps ceased, they knew the men must be ~ seated somewhere, talking. Thus the evening wore slowly away. As the hours passed it seemed to grow more hot and oppres- sive in the hold. The boys found it more and more of an effort to keep awake. They yawned and their eyelids grew painfully heavy. Knowing that to yield to slumber was to endanger their chances of escape at the proper momient, as well as the chances of saving Mr. Brand from the commission of a crime, they fought against the insidious approaches of sleep. But in spite of their best efforts the silence of the night and the heat of the hold had their natural effect on Dick and Joe, who were accustomed to retiring to their beds at an early hour, as they had to get up early. They ceased to converse, ceased to punch each other to throw off the drowsy languor that persisted in lulling their senses to- repose, and ere long their heads dropped forward on their breasts, and they were soon in sound slumber. On deck, Sykes and Mr. Brand kept wide awake enough. They smoked, talked, took frequent drinks from a flask of labeled whisky, and awaited the hour of one, when they pro- posed to unmoor and start upon their criminal! expedition. There was a small wall clock hanging in the cabin, and Sykes occasionally consulted it. “Time is up,” he said at last, coming on deck after a trip be- low. “Cast off the moorin’ rope from that stump, Brand, while I raise the jib.” Mr. Brand hastened to carry out this direction, and as the sloop moved away from the bank he helped Sykes hoist the mainsail. The movement of the vessel was rather sluggish, for the wind was not only light but the sails got very little benefit of it till the craft had floated entirely beyond the sheltering line of woods. It took half an hour for the sloop to ‘traverse the length of the creek, but as soon as she passed out into the lake she found a stronger breeze that carried her along at a more satisfactory rate of speed. “We're going to have a dark night, after all,” remarked Mr. Brand, pointing to the heavy bank ef clouds which for more than an hour had been creeping over the sky, blotting out the stars and changing the early brightness of the night to a gloomy and forbidding aspect. “So much the better,” replied Sykes, who stood at the helm. The red-headed man had, evidently been a sailor at some part of his career, for he acted as if he was thoroughly at home - in navigating the craft. Before the sloop reached the water-front of the village the heavens were completely overcast. the wind was gradually rising and a drizzling rain was adding discomfort to the scene. This change in the weather, however, was weleomed by the two men, for it would add to the safety of the enterprise on foot. Sykes had a sharp eye, and soon sihgled out the wharf he had. selected to moor at while they were away at the bank. They ran alongside of it and made fast to a spile-head. Not a soul was in sight anywhere, and there seemed little fear that any one would be around that locality until sunrise at least. “We'll have everythin’ our way, Brand,” chuckled the red- headed man. The two constables are no doubt snugly stowed away in some comfortable corner out of the wet. any rate. comin’. Go down and bring up my kit of tools and the two bags to carry the swag in. As soon as we reach the back door of the bank Tl lend you my gun to intimidate the night wat man with after wé break in. Don't forget to put a couple of ee of rope in your peeires to tie the sehen, beret tit =: ae ate es Ree ine Ae “I'll bet every person in the village is sound | at im not afraid of meetin’ them, either got’ er — eh Po |
Page 9
A FREAK OF FORTUNE. 7 —— Mr. Brand brought the required articles on deck, and every- thing being in readiness, the two men stepped onto the wharf and took their way up the street, hugging the shadows. CHAPTER VI. DICK ESCAPES FROM THE HOLD, AND WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARD. Two hours passed away, during which the two boys in the pelt slept as peacefully as though they were in their beds at ome. The precious moments they had counted on for making their escape and carrying out their plans were slipping away while they lay. like a couple of logs, against the side of the sloop. _ . The light rain had let up, but the wind had risen to a stiff breeze, which, catching the folds of the mainsail that the men had only partially. lowered, caused the sloop to bob uneasily about her moorings, while the roughening water forced her repeatedly against the spiles. The sloop’s movements, however, appeared to have no effect on the boys, who still slept on in coast unconsciousness of their surroundings. Twenty minutes passed, and then - heavier jolt than usual of the sloop against the wharf toppled the sleeping Dick over on his side and awoke him. He instantly sat up and rubbed his eyes. z “Hang it, if | haven’t been asleep!” he exclaimed, in a tone of disgust. “The question is, how long have I slept?” At first he thought from the motion of the craft that she was under way, sailing across the lake toward the village wharf. Then the tug of the sloop at her mooring-line convinced the boy that he was mistaken in his surmise. The jerky movement of the craft thoroughly surprised him. When he and Joe fell asleep the sloop was as motionless as if on the stocks, now she was tossing about as if under the influence of a choppy sea. “The wind must have come up at a lively rate,” he thought; “but even so, we can’t be in the creek. We must be”—the thought startled him—*alongside the wharf in front of the village. If so, my stepfather and his companion may be even now at the bank.” Without paying any attention to the slumbering Joe, he _ made his way over to the knothole in the cabin bulkhead and peered through. All was silence and darkness in the cabin. “My gracious!” he exclaimed. “They are surely ashore, and Joe and I have lost the golden opportunity we were looking forward to. It isn’t too late, however, for us to get away, I guess. I must make sure just how things stand first, and then Til arouse Joe.” With some difficulty, owing to the bobbing and rolling of the vessel, he piled the two boxes one on top of the other and mounted to the hatch. : He expected to meet with considerable resistance from the _ weight on top and therefore exerted considerable force. _ Yo his surprise, the cover flew up without any difficulty and he nearly fell off his perch. 2 Although Dick didn’t know it, the action of the sloop had _ dislodged the water-cask from the top of the hatch. = Grasping the combing of the hatch with one hand, to steady himself, Dick looked around the deck and then the immediate - neighborhood. _. Being familiar with the entire village water-front, he knew right away where the sloop was. - “]T wonder how long the vessel has been here?” he asked f. “If not long, Joe and I may have a chance yet to do something. But how are we going to tell how long she’s been moored here? I remember now there’s a clock in the cabin. _ ‘Vilgo down there and take a look at it. They expected to bring the sloop here about two o'clock. And I suppose they intended to be away not much over an hour and a half. Much depends, therefore. on what time it is now.” ~ - _-Dick shoved the hatch-cover aside and sprang out on deck. struc he made straight for the cabin stairs, descended them, ater and looked around till he spied the clock. - lancing at its big, round face, he saw, to his consternation, wanted just five minues of four, | settles it, I'm afraid. Mr. Brand and his burglar liable to be back at any moment, Probably with ‘loot. I must arouse Joe at once.” oe Lo coe aang stairs. oc matey. he, heard volees at a How unfortunate it was that we fell asleep!; It has queered all our plans. Too bad I didn’t arouse Joe before I came up here, for there isn’t time for me to do it now with any safety. What shall I do? It would be foolish for me to return to the hold again. I know. I'll hide in. the forepeak until I can get a chance to let Joe out of the hold. But first of all Ud better put the cover on the hatch or they'll know at once that some- thing is wrong.” Dick had just time to do this and seek the shelter of the forepeak when two indistinct forms, carrying loaded bags over their shoulders, appeared through the gloom that shrouded the wharf. Holding the scuttle-cover up an inch or two, Dick watched Sykes and Mr. Brand step aboard and dump their bundles on the deck near the cabin stairs. Almost immediately the red-headed rascal’s sharp eyes no- ticed the absence of the water-cask from the top of the hatch, and that fact aroused a suspicion in his mind with respect to their prisoners. “Took here, Brand, when we went ashore that water-barrel was on top of the hatch. I put it there on purpose to hold the cover down so that in case those young monkeys managed to free themselves they couldn’t shove the hatch up and make their escape.” “Well,” replied Mr. Brand, “what about it?” “There's this much about it. That cask should be there still and not where it is, against the starboard rail.” “It must have rolled off, then,” replied Brand, not taking much interest in the matter. “Rolled off!” snorted Sykes, almost angrily. made it roll off?” “How should I know?, Maybe the motion of the sloop did it,” said the other, hittfhg the correct reason at first guess. “You see how the vessel is bobping about.” Sykes, though somewhat impressed by this logical explana- tion of the displacement of the breaker of water, Was not thoroughly satisfied. “Well, that may be; but I'm goin’ to take a look at the pris- oners to be on the safe side,” he said. “Go and fetch the lan- tern.” As Mr. Brand started for the cabin to get the article in ques- tion, Sykes yanked off the hatch-cover and leaped into the hold. A terrible crash and a volley of imprecations, mingled itt, a groan or two, brought Brand back ina hurry. The red-headed rascal had encountered an unexpected ob- staele in his descent in the shape of the two boxes that Dick had placed there for a stepladder. : They had given way under him, and carried him to the _ bottom of the hold in a heap, where he struck his head on a ‘ piece of pig-iron ballast and lay half stunned. “What in creation is the matter with you, Sykes?” asked Brand, astonished at the racket, as he peered down into the hatehway. The red-headed man was hardly in condition to answer at the moment, as he felt as if a house had fallen in on him. “What's happened to you?” repeated Mr. Brand. “Did yee. fall in?” A groan, followed by a rather strong expression that won't — bear repetition, was all the answer he got. Mr. Brand began to grow alarmed. If his companion, who was the brains of the combination, ; was Sériously hurt, the situation was an awkward one nei them both. pot To escape in the vessel with their plunder would in that case be impossible, for Mr. Brand could no more sail the sloop than he could fly. . Greatly to his relief, however, he heard Sykes scramble on he his feet and begin to swear like a trooper. m To his mind, that was a good sign that his come ‘was .: not very badly injured. ; : “What's the trouble?” again inquired Mr. Brand. | “Trouble!” roared Sykes, in a great rage. “What in t one were those boxes doing under the hatch?” “What boxes?” asked Brand, not understanding the situat: “TI struck a pile of em. They gave way under as my hold somehow and went tumbling on top of ‘em. ; broke my head. What I want to know is Soh ee oO. be there?” ; Fr “How should 1 know? You were ™ the hold last - yo “Well, what re
Page 10
3 A FREAK were aroused. OF FORTUNE “Fetch a light, I tell you!” howled Sykes, whose suspicions | and the way the two men got busy during the next few minutes showed that they were fully alive to the danger that they Of course, Dick, from his place of concealment in the fore- | believed menaced them, 4 peak, heard the whole of the conversation about the displaced Waier-breaker, as well as Sykes’ subsequent movements and tumble, and he knew that there would be something doing as soou as his stepfather returned with the lighted lantern. Mr. Brand lost no time in getting the lantern from the cabin. . While he was away, Dick half resolved to escape ashore, hunt up one of the constables, and bring him down to the wharf to | capture both the sloop and the two men. There were several reasons, however, that deterred the boy from acting on that idea. One was that it was exceedingly doubtful if he could find an officer in time to reach the sloop before she left the wharf. A second reason was that the capture of his stepfather, with the goods on him, so to speak, would lead to his certain con- vietion, and, for his mother’s sake, he did not wish to see Mr. Brand brought to the bar. Another thing that held him back was the half-formed hope that he, with Joe’s assistance, might be able to recover the booty taken from the bank and return it without implicating his stepfather in the transaction. “This man Sykes is bound to discover in a few moments that I’ve escaped from the hold, and though he may wonder why my friend Joe did not accompany me, he will naturally conclude that I went ashore to hunt up a constable to give them in charge for assault and abduction. He will then hustle to get the sloop under way in order to head me off. As neither he nor Mr, Brand will have any suspicion that I’m still on board, I may be able to find a chance to communicate with Joe and get up somé plan to round upgthis enterprise in a way that will not bring grief to my mother.” By the time Dick had summed up matters to his own satis- faction, Mr. Brand returned on deck with the lantern. He passed it down to Sykes, who had been impatiently wait- ing in the hold. The rascal then proceeded to make an investigation. Joe Casperfield had been aroused from his sleep by the racket, and, seeing the hatchway open and hearing the dis- turbance made by Sykes, he feared some complication not fore- _ seen by Dick and himself. . He had no idea that he had been asleep more than a couple a of minutes, and he put out his hand to grasp Dick, whom he _ gupposed to be still by his side. Not finding him there, he called out softly: “Where are you, Dick?” Of course he got no reply, and was rather astonished thereat. We calied again, somewhat louder, with no better result. kv Then, for the first time, he became conscious of the motion of the sloop. “Why, the boat is under way,” such being his natural im- 4 pression, “and I guess we've reached the lake where we've “t eaught a wind. I wonder where Dick has got to? I can sce __ pretty well around the hold, and there isn’t a sign of him. By _ + George! Maybe they’ve just yanked him out on deck, and that’s the cause of the racket that awakened me.” At that moment Sykes got up and called for the lantern. . “Il bet he’s coming to take a squint at me,” breathed Joe. _ “Tf he finds my arms free he'll tie me tighter than before. I wonder if I couldn't pretend that I’m still tied? I'll try it, at any rate, and trust to luck.” _ When the lantern was passed down,to Sykes he made straight the spot where Joe had thrown himself back on the sacks, with his hands behind him. _ fe flashed the light into the corner and saw only one boy. the ed he raised the lantern above his head and looked about oe soon assured him that. Dick was. not there. out payil further attention to Casperfield, to that *s intense satisfaction, he rushed back to the hatchway. at _Sebeon of yours has escaped!” he roared up to Mr. aped!” exclaimed Brand, incredulously. | out. That accounts for the water-barrel bein off the hatch-cover. The other chap is here, however, whic ‘shows that your kid “expected to bring back a constable, or ome other man, in short order, to lay us by the heels. Here, glim,” passing up the lantern, “and give me a hand out of this. We haven't any time to lose. We must cast the ay and fet under way oa ence or rsh be ; or us.” CHAPTER VII. ‘ DICK MASTER OF THE SITUATION As soon as Sykes had clapped the cover on the hatch again, and replaced the keg of water on it, he hastened to assist Mr. Brand unmoor the sloop from the wharf. - As the boat drifted out into the lake, they hoisted the main- sail first and the jib afterward, after which Sykes hastened to take charge of the helm and put the vessel on her course down the broad sheet of water, on the northern shore of which Hay- woods village lay. Mr. Brand busied himself carrying the bundles down into the cabin, then he lit his pipe and rejoined his companion on deck. The sloop now slipped along over the choppy water at a good speed, and was rapidly leaving the village behind her. Dick watched the two men from under the scuttle cover, and chuckled at the idea that they believed he was ashore, and that they had successfully eluded his presumed plan to e¢ap- ture them at the wharf. “I’m safe enough here for two or three hours, at any rate, T guess,” he said to himself. “But when Sykes comes forward to cook breakfast I’m sure to be discovered, and then there'll be trouble. Still, I might manage to move those boxes out a bit and squeeze myself in behind them. Then I might possibly escape his eagle eye.” Day was now breaking, and the sun would be up in less than an hour. A few miles ahead was a bunch of green islands, and toward the largest of these Sykes was steering the sloop. Dick, who kept a sharp lookout on the movements of the two men, as well as about the lake as the light gradually grew stronger and brought out the line of shore and the surrounding landscape, soon noticed that their present course would take them in among the picturesque islands. There were several sheltered coves along the shore of the big island, known as Goat Island, and the boy began to wonder if it was the intention of the red-headed navigator to run into one of them and lie there until nightfall covered their move- ments down the lake to the entrance of the river, which took its rise at the southern end of the lake and ran in a south- easterly direction for a hundred miles or more. when it formed a junction with a bigger stream that traversed the more popu- lous section of the State. : Dick was well acquainted with nearly all of these islands, for he had visited them with Joe and other schoolboy friends more than once in a borrowed sailboat in days past, when he had the time to spare for that pleasure. As the sun rose over the low line of hills to the east, the sloop was close to Goat Island, and soon after Dick found that his surmise was correct about the craft making a landing, for she presently put in at a sequestered cove. The sails were lowered and left unfastened in the same way as at the head of the creek, and then the men, after carrying a line ashore and fastening it to a convenient tree, retired to the cabin. - Dick took advantage of their absence from the deck to slip ashore and hide in the thick undergrowth of bushes, where he could safely watch their further movements and figure on prhat he should do next. Every moment he expected to see Sykés appear and go for- ward to the forepeak to prepare the morning meal, but the minutes went by and he did not show up. os rte waiting a good half hour, Dick began to grow impa- ent. “T wonder what they’re doing in the cabin?” he said to him- self. “Maybe counting up their plunder from the bank and stowing it away. I dare say that’s an occupation that they find great pleasure in.” As a matter of fact, that was exactly what Sykes and his associate were doing. It took them the greater part of an hour to size up their swag and divide it, according to the red-headed man’s ideas of an equitable division, which was three-quarters for himself and one-quarter for Mr. Brand. Dick’s stepfather held out for a large share of the pulls of their;night’s work, but Sykes carried the argument in his own favor, on the ground that he was the man who planned and tia carried out the enterprise ; that he had furnished the
Page 11
A FREAK OF FORTUNE. 9 experience and tools and sloop, and that Mr. Brand was merely a kind of general assistant, and ought to be satisfied with whatever share he (Sykes) chose to give him. Whether Brand was satisfied or not with the way his ecom- panion put the matter, he could not very weil help himself, as Sykes was big, strong and aggressive, and used to doing things as he chose whenever he had the advantage on his side. As soon as the subject was disposed of, Sykes called on his companion to wash up the dirty dishes from their evening’s repast, While he started in and cooked breakfast. Dick saw him proceed to the galley, and soon smoke was issuing from the small stovepipe in the forepeak. The light breeze blowing on shore wafted the smell of the cookery to the boy’s nose and made him feel hungry. : ee began to wonder how long it would be before food came ‘is way. “Tf they turn in for a sleep after the meal I can sneak aboard and perhaps find a bit of something left in the galley. Then I’ll release Joe and perhaps we can capture the sloop while they're dreaming in the cabin. I know just how I'll do it if I get but half a chance.” » Sykes carried the eatables into the cabin when they were ready, and nearly half an hour elapsed before the men reap- peared on deck, with pipes in their mouths. ‘Dick saw Sykes go into the forepeak again, and after a little while, during which there was more smell of cooking, he came _ out with a plateful of stuff and a cup of something that Dick judged to be coffee. These he laid down on the deck, removed the water-cask from the hatch-cover and preparéd to enter the hold. _ *He’s taking Joe some breakfast,” breathed Dick, licking his hungry chops and meeuy aren his Sorprads in misfortune his bit of good luck. Sykes lowered himself. into. ane hold, and Mr. Brand passed : him- the loaded dishes. - ‘Phe rascal was out of sight some little time. _ Then, after passing up the empty dishes, he sprang on deck, ites the cover on the hatch again and replaced the water- ker. 8 stood talking to Mr. Brand for a few moments, and then the worthy pair went down into the eabin again. --Dick put in another hour of impatient waiting, and, finding that the men did not reappear on deck again, he began to con- ‘a sider the advisability of venturing on board the sloop and 3 investigating the condition of things. J] think I can safely count on ‘their being asleep by this inal he said to himself. “I'll have to be mighty careful, ough, for lve no doubt that red- headed rascal has trained himself to sleep with one eye open.” — He emerged from the bushes, took off his a and crept on board. ine he first thing he did was to drop down sits the forepeak on. the hunt fer something to eat. fire was out ‘and there was nothing but a dirty frying- ~ ud the ba cette § on the stove. 3 =: vera it Jying on a oe close by. “That's better bd. cutting. off several slices and buttering them. With ae mouth full, he looked into the coffee-pot.’ ae 8 pe and he heat t to get Spare mer tore inost of the bread, all of the butter and- better and ready for action in other . ng his” head hat "deck: was as Leg esr ever. th y" re aslee Ml all right, but still vd like to make und softly crossed the deck. e cabin: ag 0 he. gris head down a's with great attenti Woo? oy § : VY breathing came ba be Fame he said. ce than nothing, by a long shot,” said the hungry ‘cautiously above the open scuttle, he saw] Then he glanced around the place into which ¢>* sunlight streamed through the small skylight in the roof of . = iwunk. The table was littered with the dishes containing the re- mains of the morning meal. There was a bunk on a locker on either side of the cabin. Mr. Brand was stretched out on one, Sykes on the other. Their breathing indicated sound repose. Dick, having seen all he wanted to, was about to retreat when his sharp eye noticed the butt of a revolver sticking from under the red-headed man’s pillow. : Its presence there fascinated him, and suggested great pos- sibilities if he could but secure it himself. “I must try and get it,” he breathed. “With that in my hands, and with Joe at my back, I am almost sure that we would be masters of the situation.” To think was to act with Dick. With the utmost caution he approached Sykes’ berth, laid his fingers on the weapon and, inch by inch, drew it from its resting-place. At last, with a thrill of satisfaction, he had it in his hand, and the two men slept on, oblivious of what he was doing. There was nothing further to detain him in the cabin, and so he returned on deck. “Now, if I could manage to secure the sliding door over the entrance to the cabin stairs, I'd have them prisoners below, and then the game would be in my hands,” he said. There was a keyhole in the slide, which showed that it could, be locked, but as the key was not in it, Dick could not expect’ to lock it. There was also a stout brass ring which served in place ofa. handle for drawing the door to. This gave Dick an idea, : He looked around, picked up a piece of line and, making a. thick knot in one end, he passed the other end through the ring, shut the door over and then secured the end of the line around a cleat in the low bulwark of the sloop. ‘That made the door fast. _ F “I guess I’ve got them all right now,” he said, triumphantly. “Phe next thing is to release Joe from the hold.” ‘7 CHAPTER VIII. IN WHICH SYKES AND BRAND ARE UP AGAINST IT. Dick lost no time in removing the hatch and jumping down © into the hold. “Hist, Joe! Where are you?” he called, in a low tone. ~ Bi: “What! You on board, Dick?” cried Joe, coming forward in joyful surprise. “I thought you had escaped ashore at the vil- lage. That red-headed rascal came down here with a lantern some hours ago and seemed surprised’ when he didn’t see you. I heard him tell your stepfather that you had got away.” : “I was hiding in the forepeak at the time, and stayed there till the sloop anchored in this cove, when I slipped ashore be- cause I was afraid of being discovered.” “Then they don’t know you're around?” raed think I’m at the village. I just fooled them in reat | shape. Lew “Whereabouts is» the sloop anchored?” “At Goat Island.” “Is that so? Well, how about our getting away?” ihe “There’s nothing to prevent us.” “Nothing? What about your stepfather and the red-beaded rascal?” *“They’re ‘asleep in the cabin, and I've axe things $0. ‘they can’t get out.” : “You have? How?” “Come on deck and I'll show you.” Z Joe lifted Dick up so he could scramble out, and then assisted him ont from above. : They put the cover on the hatch and walked aft, when, saw how his chum had secured the cabin slide. “Ww hen they wake up and find themselves prisoners ; Y peed * strong.” “If he tries that he'll run against’ this,” "ree, ing the revolver,
Page 12
“> Pare 10 A FREAK OF FORTUNE: Dick sat 4own near the closed slide to be ready to repel any} “That looks good,” said Joe, hungrily. “I ‘suppose you effort made by the prisoners to break out. haven't had anything to eat since last night.” Ad “Do you know whether your stepfather and the other chap “I ate up half a loaf and part of a cup of coffee I found in s got into the bank this morning, as you told me they proposed | the galley when I returned on board after Sykes had cooked a ; doing?” asked Joe, when he returned with a serviceable club. | Second mess of meat for you,” replied Dick. That only took x3 “I guess there's no doubt about it, for they brought a couple| the edge off my hunger. Pitch in and let’s get it out of the 4 of loaded bags on board just before the red-headed man fell} way. Those chaps may wake up any moment and make things ki into the hold when he started to see if we were both safe down} interesting for us. ; there,”-replied Dick. Nothing happened while they were eating, nor for more than “Did he fall into the hold?” an hour afterward, then they heard a noise in the cabin. “Did he? I should say he did,” chuckled Dick. “He fell over ns Sin oot Joe. There'll be something doing in a Peaee Dexee 700.56 a ete a es me up.” There was the sound of steps on the brass-bound stairs and “It must bave been, for he made noise enough to wake the| then a fumbling of a hand at the closed slide. dead.” Z Failing to get the slide open, the person who was working “Well, what are you going to do about getting back to the the revolver. So ye-ciad they Sys = a; “Yer can’t find it, you lunkhead!” roared Sykes, angrily. “Supposing he won’ ve it up?” ? “It’s under my pillow, I tell yer.” os “Then we'll have to make him.” “T looked under the pillow, and it isn’t there.” “He's a pretty tough proposition to tackle.” With an imprecation, Sykes walked back down the stairs and “A revolver with six shots in it is a good argument to bring} looked for himself. t to bear on him.” >» % He didn’t find it because Dick had it at that moment. g “He might take the chance of your using it on him. I} ‘The boys could hear him raising Cain in the cabin. hardly think you’d care to shoot him.” By this time his suspicions that things were out of joint were in full blast. He found a heavy piece of iron pipe in his locker, and with that he returned to the door and began to batter at it with an energy that promised to knock a panel out in no time at all. “Stand guard over the skylight, Joe, and I'll attend to Mr. Sykes,” said Dick, cocking the revolver. Crash ! \ Two panels of the slide were splintered. The wood fell out on the deck and Sykes’ ferocious’ counte- nance was framed in the opening. Matters had reached a climax at last. “T shouldn’t want to do so, but if ’'m driven to it I’d just as soon wing him as not. I must recover the bank’s money with- out implicating Mr. Brand.” “T hope you'll manage to get around the matter, but it looks to me as if you'll never be able to save your stepfather.” - “T’ll save him if it’s possible for me to do it.” “Tl bet he wouldn’t do as much for you.” “Tm not taking all this trouble for his sake, but for Ss. “It’s too bad that Your mother married him.” “Well, I've heard, that he was a pretty deceat sort of man when he married her. I was only a little chap then. He's - ehanged greatly in late years.” “Are you going to remain here until you come to terms with _ Sykes?” f 3 “Ves.” “If he knuckles down to you, what are you going to do?” “Put him ashore over by the railroad.” “And Mr. Brand?” “I'll carry him to the village and let him go.” . “And _ are a to do —_ ere sloop?” “Turn it over to aywoods authorities.” “But you'll have to explain how you got possession of the Mo ne age Saltese cake monkey?” he roared. 2 — money. You may find that kind of awkward. The mag- “Yes, I’m here,” replied Dick, coolly. strate will want to know what becaine of the men who broke} - “Where have yer been hidin’ aboard? I thought yer made into the bank. yer escape.” “He won't find out from me what I don’t want to tell, and I|° “Don’t worry yourself about where I've been hiding. I’ve. _ expect you to hold your tongue about anything that’s likely to| been watching you right along.” ; _ ¢ast-suspicion in Mr. Brand's direction.” — - “Who are you talking to, Sykes?” asked Mr. Brand, from 4 the foot of the stairs. “Who? Why, your measly stepson. I'll bet he’s at the bot- tom of this trick.” 5 - “Do you mean to say he is on board the sloop?” “Come up and look at him yerself,” snarled Sykes. Mr. Brand ascended the stairs and peeped out. : He recognized Dick with no little wonder, for he couldn't account for the lad being on board when both he and Sykes supposed that he had escaped at the village wharf. “Is that my gun yer'ye got in yer hand?” demanded Sykes, wrathfully, of Dick. ; “IT guess it was, but it’s mine now,” replied the boy. _ “Yours!” howled the red-headed man, furiously. “Did you have the nerve to walk into the cabin and take it from me?” __ \ ’ CHAPTER IX. . IN WHICH THE TABLES ARE TURNED ON SYKES AND BRAND. When Sykes’ eyes rested on Dick Leslie standing, revolver in hand, facing the broken cabin slide, he uttered an exclama- The morning wore slowly away, and Dick began to feel de- lediy hungry again. — ding the revolver to Joe, and telling him to keep his eyes ‘or ores he went into the galley and rummaged See couple of pounds of sliced bacon, two loaves two dozen of eggs, nearly a pound of coffee and other ‘ like nature : an ‘ ae = ei es i> ‘ ae : ;
Page 13
eae a eS eee There was a resolute ring in Dick’s voice that warned Sykes that the boy was dangerous to monkey with. R Sykes, however, was no milk-and-water individual. He had been up against revolvers in determined hands be- fore, and he was accustomed to take chances. Probably he expected that when he died it would be with his boots on. Sykes glared at Dick in a way that would have carried terror to some boy's souls. 4 He raised the piece of iron pipe suddenly and hurled it against the remaining panels with a viciousness that splintered the} entire door. Then he thrust his body through the opening and came at Dick with blood in his eye. ; ' Dick saw his danger and, realizing that he must either make good his threat or throw up the sponge, raised his revolver = with his finger on the trigger, aimed point-blank at the an. } In another moment Dick would have fired and probably have killed or desperately wounded the crook, but that Joe, on hear- ing the second crash and seeing Sykes issue through the frac tured door, sprang forward and brought his club down on the follow’s head with a force that sent him stunned to the deck. “Good for you, Joe!” said Dick, much relieved by the turn affairs had taken. “Now get a piece of rope and we'll tie him.” Joe got a short length of line forward, and between them they hound Sykes good and tight, while Mr. Brand looked on, afraid to interfere. They dragged the crook to the hatchway and left him there. “Now. Mr. Brand, come on deck. I want to talk to you,” said Dick, returning to the cabin entrance. His stepfather refused to avail himself of this invitation, and retreated back into the cabin. r Dick, kicking the broken slide aside, and leaving Joe to keep an eye on deck, followed him. Mr. Brand sullenly took his seat on the bunk lately vacated by his associate, and regarded the boy with an unfriendly aspect. Dick wes afraid that the interview was not likely to be a satisfactory one, ) } “You and I have nexer got on very well together, Mr. Brand.” began Dick, “and now that you have added to your other un- desirable qualities the commission of a crime, I don’t think we're ever likely to hitch.” Mr. Brand looked hard things at his stepson, but did not say a word. “How did you become acquainted with that ruffian outside, and whatever was it that induced you to join hands with him in the robbery of the Haywoods Bank?” “What's that?” snarled Mr. Brand. “How dare fou say that I robbed any bank, you little liar?” “That bluff won't work with me, Mr. Brand,” replied ‘Dick, coldly. “After you and Sykes put me down in the hold when the sloop was at the head of the creek, I found a knothole in that bulkhead and, looking through, I saw both of you seatéd at this table. I heard every word that passed between you about the job this morning at that bank. Then when I escaped from the hold at the village wharf I saw you both come on board with loaded bags, which I am satisfied contained the plunder you stole from the bank. That stuff is now in this cabin, and I want you to turn it over to me at once.” =A - Mr. Brand nearly collapsed at,;the extent of his stepson’s «knowledge of his iniquity.” He realized that he was in Dick’s power, and that the State Prison stared him in the face. 7 “I suppose you mean to have me arrested,” he said sullenly. “You're a nice stepson, you are. To bring disgrace on me and the law would impose on job with your eyes open. ‘punishment went into the he | father, unblushingly- A FREAK OF FORTUNE. of the swag, which he placed on the table, a 11 the railroad. That will give him the chance to make good his escape. The stolen property I intend to return to the bank. As for yourself, you can return home. No one will ever learn from me or Joe th&t you had any hand in the burglary of the bank, Thus you'll get out of a very serious scrape.” Mr, Brand’s countenance cleared a bit. but whether he really was grateful to Dick for his magnanimous conduct is a matter that the boy could not decide from any indication of the face on his stepfather’s part. , : “Now.” went on Dick, “I guess you know where the money is that you and Sykes brought away from the bank. So just produce it, and then we'll set sail for the village.” Mr. Brand didn’t show any great eagerness to bring the money to light. On the contrary, an idea had struck him which he proceeded unfold to Dick. “You say you're going to turn Jim Sykes loose along the railroad, eh?” “That’s my plan,” replied the boy. “If you do that he'll probably make himself scarce around this neighborhood.” : “T sincerely hope he will.” “Then what's the use of doing anything further in the mat- ter?” said Mr. Brand, with a suggestive wink. “What do you mean?” asked Dick, in some surprise. “What's the use of reporting to the bank that you've got pos- session of the money taken from their vault? You'll only get yourself into a lot of trouble. The officials will want to know all the particulars of how you came to learn about the rob- bery, how you followed the burglars up, and how you, a boy, got it away from them. You'll be obliged to tell all you know, and if you don’t, Joe Casperfield will. As the case now stands, there is nothing to prevent us from burying that money on this island. and letting it remain here till the excitement blows over. No one will ever suspect you boys of knowing anything about the affair, and if you chaps don’t open your mouths there’ll be nothing to connect me with it. Sykes will get out of the way just as soon as he can, for you can tell him that as a personal favor to me you have decided to give him two or three hours start on the constables, and that if they eatch him it will be his own fault. You can also tell him that it won't be healthy for him to shew up in these parts again. That will make it pretty certain that he'll stay away for good. The bank people will think that the thieves have got clear off with their swag, and then after a few weeks you, me and Joe can sail down to this island some May and divide the money. Now, isn’t that a better scheme than getting yourself and me, too, into a whole lot of trouble over the return of this money, which will do us more: good than the rich folks who own the bank, and who wouldn't help us to a loaf of bread if we were starving?” Mr. Brand grew almost eloquent in his eagerness to impress to Dick with the all-around benefit that would accrue to the three of them by adopting his villainous suggestion. , The boy heard him through, with disgust and indignation, though he was on the point of interrupting him more than once. “So you have the nerve to propose such a scheme to me, have you, Mr. Brand?” he said, angrily. a “Isn't it a good one?” asked his stepfather, eagerly. “So safe and easy that it’s like finding money. If you carried out your own foolish plan you'd only cast suspicion on me; and if I was arrested, think of the disgrace both to your mother and > . yourself. © views.” “Where is this money that you got away with from You can’t do better than to fall in line with my } the bank?” said Dick, thinking “it the part of wisdom to. get his hands on the booty before telling -his stepfather what he thought of him. > : “Here it is,” replied Mr. Brand, making “Is that all of it?” asked Dick. “No, we haven't touched the boodle yet,’ replied his’ Dick had his doubts of Mr. Brand’s mi A man capable of making such a proposal as he had was not to be trusted. ay fed 2 * ” : * © > a dive into Syke’s_ B wy « .
Page 14
aa. 12- A FREAK OF FORTUNE. Dick suspected from his extreme readiness to have him search that there was no more of the plunder in that locker, so he | suddenly changed his mind and went over to the other locker. “What are you going to do there?” askef! Mr. Brand, anx- iously. “There’s nothing in that locker. Sykes put it all in this one.” “I'm going to examine it, just the same,” and he did. , The first thing he laid his hand on was the bag containing his stepfather’s share, and he pulled it out. “What do you call this, Mr. Brand?” He dumped several bundles of bills out on the floor. “T suppose you didn’t know that this money was here, did you?” he added, sarcastically. Mr, Brand’s face was the picture of anger and disappoint- ~ ment. 4 CHAPTER X. DICK RESTORES THE STOLEN MONEY AND GETS A REWARD, ei Dick dumped the package of bills into the other bag. Ec “So you think it would be a good idea to bury this bag of in money somewhere on Goat Island until the excitement at- ; tending the robbery of the bank had cooled down. Then your Pe plan would be for the three of us to come over here some day, dig it up and divide.” “That’s the best thing we could do. There's $20,000 in good ‘ bills in that bunch—nearly $7,000 apiece—you and Joe wouldn’t _ have to work any more,” said Mr. Brand, enticingly, thinking p that his stepson was about to yield to the temptation. “Mr. Brand, if I was to tell you in plain words what I think ashamed of yourself to suggest such a rascally proposition to me, of all others. You married my mother and, instead of try- that I kept straight. If it wasn’t for my mother, I’d land both you and Sykes in the village lock-up this afternoon. It seems to me you only need the chaneé to turn out as bad as he is. I am thoroughly disgusted with you. I had no idea that you were half as bad as you are now showing yourself to be. I shall certainly tell mother of your doings, and if she has any- thing more to do with you I will be greatly surprised.” “You miserable little milksop, if you dare to a her a word, Tl ” roared Brand. xou'l do what?” replied Dick, looking him ‘resolutely in “You find out what I'll do,” gedly. answered his stepfather, dog- “Tm nat afraid of what you'll do, Mr. Brand,” replied Dick. ‘scornfully, “Instead of threatening me, you ought to be grate- ful to me for letting up on you and holding Joe from telling truth also. Don’t make any mistake but that this robbery turn on me something might happen that you wouldn't like. That's all I’ve got to say to you.” — - Dick took up the bag containing the stolen money and went Z plone teem’ Pw a he found Joe sitting beside the still uncon- : Sykes. got the plunder, Joe.” said Dick, holding’ up the bag. ie enough! How much is there in the bag?” » According to Mr. Brand, there is $20,000. ‘ahs “That's a big bunch of money.” ined do date ‘suppose my Riera had the gall to pro- voutiined Mr. Brand’s sx@peally pele: ¥ really imagine sist you amt. me would agree to ; eked Toe. Fo “must have thotight: the: temptation. ‘would fetch us or dn’t have made the suggestion.” . © answer did you give him?” him a few things that he won't forget tn a hurry. | ae eae si Ue PS iS war + pide Sis Ae) mace tom you can stand! to have him around ‘your {| Offic on’t admit what the be gd AT ipo igs is. ‘must have oe ea of you, I don’t fancy you'd be flattered. You ought to be ing to lead me astray, you ought to consider it your duty to see ‘ou’ve participated in will hang over your head, and if you his sisgaree ieee a crime on his hands, I’m through with him for good, and mother will be, too, as soon as I have told her all.” “When are we going to start fer the village?” “Right away,” replied Dick. “You can cast the line off and let the sloop drift out of the cove. Then come and help me hoist the mainsail.” In five minutes the vessel was heading through the nest of islands for the eastern shore of the lake, where Dick proposed leaving Sykes to shift for himself. Mr. Brand came on deck and looked around. He did not approach either of the boys, who would have avoided him if he had done so. Dick, who was at the tiller, kept his eye on his stepfather, as a matter of general precaution, for he did not trust Mr. Brand for a cent. In about twenty minutes the sloop was brought as close to the shore as she would go without grounding. “Now, Mr. Brand, take off your shoes and socks and help Joe carry Sykes ashore,” said Dick, after throwing the sloop into the best position he could for the purpose in view. “You've got a ,pocket-knife, I suppose, so you can cut him loose after- war Mr. Brand didn’t seem disposed to obey this request, started to walk forward. “Look here, Mr. Brand, if you want me to land both you and Sykes in jail at the village, why, just keep on acting as you're doing. I'll give you two minutes to make up your mind. If I have to carry your associate to Haywoods and turn him over to the authorities, you'll share his fate, so unless you want to go to prison you'll do as I tell you.” As Dick showed that he was thoroughly in earnest in his attitude, Mr. Brand reluctantly concluded to do as he was told. He and Joe carried Sykes, who had now recovered his senses, well up on the shore, then Casperfield left Mr. Brand to oelense his companion in crime, and hastened back to the sloop. ‘ As soon as Brand eut Sykes loose the latter grabbed him tod seémed disposed not to allow him to return to the sloop. Dick held the sloop for a few mimutes and then said to Jee: “Stuff Mr. Brand’s socks into his shoes and toss them oy the beach. . I’m not going to wait here any longer for him. It won't hurt him any to walk back to the village along the rail- road ties. In fact, I’d prefer if he turned the other way and accompanied Sykes out of the county. He might better do it, and has no money, the tavern-keeper is not likely to take him in. I did intend to be easy with him, hoping that he might be sorry for going into the burglary, but when he made that proposition to me to join in and hold the money back from the bank that ‘settled him with me.” Joe fired the shoes and socks on the beach and then maeis steered the sloop out into the lake. Two hours later they made fast to the same wharf that the “Now, I’m going to the bank with the stolen funds,” said Dick. “I wish you'd stay aboard till I return, if you don't mind, Joe.” Joe said he would do so, and Dick, taking the bag on his back, started for the Haywoods Bank. That institution was situated on the most prominent corner of Main street, and as the boy approached he*saw quite a erowd around the bank. - He easily guessed that they were discussing the robbery, which, of course, was known all over the village long before ‘that. - One of the constables was standing in front of the main door; which was closed, and on which a written notice was tacked, which informed fhe public that business had ‘been -| temporarily suspended. More than half the persons in the crowd knew Dick, either personally or by sight, and many. nodded or spoke to him as he came up. “What have you got in the bag Dick?” asked one man. “Have you brought back the FIOBEy that the bank lost last "os abd mee course, be intgndea the remark as a joke, never dream- ing how near he had struck the truth, apt those within ei laughed at the very idea of such a else should bring me to the bank?” “Let's have a look, “then.” said ‘the man, jocbsely.” “ane bag ht ete . ve hee a for he won't be welcome at the cottage any more, and as he © ‘boat had been anchored at in the small hours of the morning. © “Sure I’ve brought back the money,” ‘aughea Dick. “wat "
Page 15
| “Don’t worry, then. They’ll start up again in the morning. As soon as I hand this bag over to them the cashier will take that notice down and put up another.” The bulk of the crowd which had gathered around Dick took his words as a joke, and there was more laughter. “T want to get into the bank, Mr. Jones,” said Dick to the con- stable. . ® “Sorry, Leslie, but no one is allowed in the bank to-day.” “Oh, I'm an exception. Just knock on the door and tell any- body who comes that the stolen money is outside, awaiting ad- mission.” “Come now, Leslie, that’s too serious a joke to work off on me.” “All right. Knock on the door and have the cashier or president informed that there is a person outside who can furnish important information about the robbery.” The constable and the crowd stared at Dick on hearing his | words, which were spoken in a serious tone. “The board is holding a meeting inside. in earnest I'll rap on the door. to you to make good your words,” hard at Dick. “Go ahead. Vil make good all right.” -As the constable rapped loudly, the crowd, whose curiosity and interest had been strongly aroused, and who now began to think that the contents of the bag might represent the stolen money after all, pushed close up, and those within reach began to finger the bag curiously. “Feels as if it might be packages of money,” said one man. A dozen hands immediately grasped the folds of the bag, and great excitement ensued. At this point one side of the door was opened a little way and a voice asked what was wanted. “The stolen money is here,” said Dick, before the constable could speak. “Let me inside, please.” The boy was immediately allowed: to enter, and then the door was slammed in the faces of the. excited people outside. While Dick was being led into the board-room at the rear of the bank, the news began to circulate ontside that the stolen “money had been recovered. Of course, Dick's name was circulated in connection with the If you really are said the constable, looking funds, 2nd long before the boy had finished his explanation to | the astonished board of directors of the bank half the village had heard the rumor about the recovery of the stolen money. Diek had decided to tell the whole truth about the affair, including his own and Joe Casperfield’s adventures in connec- tion therewith, and to beg the gentlemen, for his mother’s sake, and in consideration of his being so fortunate as to recover the bank’s funds, not to prosecute his stepfather. Accordingly, he made a clean breast of the matter. - His story was listened to with great attention and not a ~ little astonishment. The woney and several packages of bonds that had been _ taken also were counted and found to tally exactly with the loss . sustained. ‘The - vice-president then tectobadels a resolution thanking - Dick for the part he had played in the affair, and voting him the sum of $1,000 as a reward for his services, also $100 to Joe _ Casperfield. ‘The motion prevailed, unanimously, and the cashier im- _ mediately handed Dick one of the packages of bills that had been taken. --The question of overlooking Mr. Brand's agency in the mat- } _ ter was so serious as to call forth a good deal of argument : "before the matter was finally settled in the boy’s favor. 2 er was only beeause the directors recognized the hardship must fall to the lot of the brave boy and his mother, if _ Brand was publicly Tern as one of the thieves, that * consented to hush the truth Grae anvotten nut of the bata by isd ¥eay: doos, and soon ‘afterward a fresh notice was put up on the front door, saying at Cost eare, man We rErray Weta) next morning. ie HINE snethng tor 30m, Ton 8 Diek, spping o at is em A FREAK’ OF FORTUNE. door. “Oh, Dick!” she exclaimed, her tears beginning to: flow: és “Tell me what he has done more ee usual to deserve your present time. in downright earnest. ciple. 13 “Here’s your share,” $100 bill. Joe took it and his eyes bulged as he looked at the big 100 on each of the upper corners of the bill. It represented a small fortune to the young farm boy, who had never owned as much as a $10 bill before in his life. “Gee! I'm rich!” he exclaimed, exultantly. “So am I, in a way,” said Dick, exhibiting ten $100 notes, “IT should say you are. What are you going to do with so much money?” “I'm going to give it to my mother. I do.” “How did you manage with your explanations? Get through all right?” _“T told the whole truth, as the easiest way out.” “You didn’t give your stepfather away, did you?” “TI concealed nothing, and threw Mr. Brand on the mercy of |the board. In consideration of my having brought.back the money, and because of the disgrace that must attach to my went on Dick, presenting him with a She needs it more than But remember, if I do, it’s up |mother and myself if the facts were divulged, it was yoted to cover up Mr. Brand’s guilt, and to make no further attempt to catch the criminals. So now, Joe, you must hold your tongue about Mr. Brand. When you tell your story to your parents, and others, just say that ‘the burglars made their escape. It may be a white lie, but as it’s in a good cause, your conscience won't reprove you.” “I'll be as mute as a mopstick, old man. this sloop?” “I’ was told to keep it, so I'll present you with a half in- terest in it.” “What shall we do with it? Sell it?” “We'll decide that question later. At present we'll go home Now what about in her.” “Take her up the creek?” “Yes. We'll moor her where Sykes | had her.” “He might come back and steal her.” “I don’t imagine he will come this way soon again. rate, we'll risk it. the wharf.” At any So now get busy and help me cast off from It took them an hour to reach the sloop's. former mooring ee, D and then they separated, each returning to his home. “Ww mother, when he rushed into the cottage. She showed the evidences of a siege of anxious suspense. “T’ve been up against a pretty stirring time since I left home last night, mother,” replied the boy, gently forcing her down on a sofa in the sitting-room. “T’'ve been dreadfully worried about you,” tearfully. terday morning.” “Don't call him my father, mother. and I hope from this out he will be nothing to you.” said Mrs, Brand, “Why, Dick,” cried the little woman, looking surprised and pained by his words, for she had never heard him speak this % way about his stepfather before, “what do you mean?” “I mean, mother, that he has disgraced us both.” “Disgraced us!" she cried, in a tone of alarm and apprehen- — sion. “I don’t understand what you mean.” “Then I will explain. I regret that I must distress you, but the story may as well be told now as to keep you in suspense. Whether Mr. Brand will venture here again I cannot tell. It is quite possible he may, but if I'm here I shall show. him this He has proved himself unworthy of your regard.” resentment.” “Listen, mother, and fou shall aitew for yourself, ‘y or Sa Then Dick told all that happened from-the moment. he left ; the cottage the night before to visit Joe Casperfield tin the Mrs. Brand was quite overcome by his recital, 2h , She realized that her husband had taken the road to ‘the That he had shown himself to be a man utterly stehea oeie: Dick, my son, where have you been?” asked his “And your father hasn't been home since he left.yes- — He is nothing to me, 4 * we
Page 16
14 A FREAK OF BORTUNE. He handed her the money he had received from the bank | and stood within a few feet of an immense, but now dead, 3 : E people, and it represented a little fortune to her. walnut-tree. 2 + “I am sure that you will find it a relief to be rid of Mr.} The man of sinister aspect and his wife lived the life of = Brand, mother,” he said. “For a long time he has been little} recluses, visiting nobody and being visited by none. = 4 more than a husband in name. When he worked he never gave The man paid regular weekly yisits to the village to make % you a cent, but spent his money on liquor. He was a standing| purchases of supplies and was never known to hold friendly . source of mortification to you, for every one who knew us was | converse gvith anybody. ‘ aware of his conduct. He is far better away from this village. Finally he died, and his widow lived alone in the house for . If he gets into trouble no one here will learn of it, and you| Many years. will not live in constant fear of something happening at bal i. was after her death that the property was sold by the moment.” tow Dick did not leave the cottage that night, lest Mr. Brand The secbnd-hana dealer had bought the few articles of furni- would show up during his absence and endeavor to bulldoze| ture the house contained, and among these were the chest of his mother. : drawers and the idol. Nor did Brand make his appearance next day while Dick was| Dick took the idol home with him, and next day the chest of at the store, nor for many weeks thereafter. drawers was delivered at the cottage and installed in Bonnie's Dick continued to work in his steady way at the general) room. store,’ and it is probable he would have continued in Mr. That evening Joe called and Dick showed him the idol. . Simpson’s employ for an indefinite period but for one of for- Both boys were agreed that its equal was not to be found in tune’s strange freaks which altered his prospects entirely for| Haywoods, and Dick was satisfied that he had got it dirt cheap. the better. “It’s got the most sarcastic grin on its face T ever saw in my, Dick was first favorite among all the girls of bis acquaint-| life,” remarked Dick, as they stood and looked at it. “I've only ance, and he came to know a great many of them through his| owned it twenty- -four hours, yet I never look at it but I feel ~ connection with the store. like punching it in the eye. That grin makes me mad.” x Many of the girls who set their cap at him, so to speak, were “Tt certainly has a tantalizing smirk,” admitted Joe. “But - daughters of well-to-do people in the village, one even being a| that’s the way with those Chinese ornaments. I suppose the be petted niece of the cashier of the bank. Chink who made that, thirty or forty years ago, intended that ta Dick could Rave picked out a sweetheart at-will among a| fora seraphic smile. Are you going to leave it on your bureau?” ahi score of girls, but not one of them seemed to interest him to} “No. I just put that little wall bracket up there to hold it.” - that extent. Dick removed the idol to the bracket. -. The only girl who seemed to attract him at all was Bonnie “How does it look there?” he added. mz Barton, an orphan, who lived with her grandmother in a very| “Fine,” said Joe. “If you ever get tired of it I'll buy it b-2 humble cottage not far from his own home. for $2.” a For some time Dick had been in the habit of taking her twice} “I don’t think I'll re sell it in spite of its diabolical grin,” ee a week to the singing-class in the public school assembly hall, | replied Dick. Ex and for this reason the other girls took a strong dislike to her. An hour later Dick was getting ready for bed when his eyes MS They considered that she monopolized altogether too much] Were attracted to the idol. of Dick's society, and they endeavored to retaliate by giving A flood of moonlight coming through the window opposite her the cold shoulder. east a halo of white light around the ornament. ie It was the worst course they could have taken to win Dick As Dick looked at it in a fascinated kind of way, the grin me away from her. seemed to grow more sarcastic than ever. AS soon as he got on to the way Bonnie was being snubbed,| “Oh, you make me tired, you old squint-eyed lobster!” ex- he resented it by paying her twice as much attention as before, Claimed the boy, ge, his fist at the idol. “What are you and the result of it was that the sweetness of the girl's disposi-; grinning at, anyway? One would almost think you were alive _ tion’and her gentle ways began to have their effect on him, and| to look at you now.* What are you thinking about? Nothing he soon came to regard Bonnie in a new and very favorable} good, I'll bet. You look just as if you thought you had got the Mie: peat. bulge on somebody. Maybe you're laughing at me for having _~ About a month after the bank robbery, Bonnie's grandmother been such-a chump as to pay a whole dollar for you. Come, took sick and died. now, can’t you do something besides squat there and grin like a _.. This misfortune threw the girl on her own resources, and | fiend? Let me see you do something else.” _. many of the village maidens were ungenerous enough to hope| Hardly were the words out of his mouth before the bracket that she would leave Haywoods for good. gave way core rc went the idol = em with a crash i It is possible she might have done so but for Dick. that seatter ts remains over a yard o the carpet, He induced his mother to offer Bonnie a home, and she ac-| “My gracious!” gasped Dick, in dismay. “It's done for now.” cepted. : A room next to Dick's Was fitted up for her, and thereafter . she proved of great assistance to Mrs. Brand about the house, _ and in tending the truck patch, which began to flourish in great shape under her care. Jt was about this time that Dick, in passing the village sec- CHAPTER XII. A FREAK OF FORTUNE, : ae -hand store one evening, was attracted by a chest of ancient cae Prat sand drawers, with curious brass handles and brass cor- _ner-pieces of odd design. On top of it stood 2 little porcelain Chinese idol, with squat- ting and squinting eyes. Dick was quite taken with both articles, and he entered the store and asked the price of them. ¢ The price of the chest of drawers was $5, the idol, which had , no connection with it, was $1. - aad i 1 ‘take them,” sai said Dick, who thought the chest ef drawers make a pretty present for Bonnie, while the idol would “Too bad,” soliloquized Dick, gazing regretfully at the remains of the idol. “I guess I didn’t fasten that bracket secure enough. The old Chink was pretty heavy for its size. Well, his name is mud now, and I’m a dollar out.” He stooped down and began to gather up the pieces. | ‘Every bit of it almost had gone to smail ig peieg eibe but | the head. That, singular to say, with its sardonic grin, was still intact. “Well, upon my word, it must have been that grin that saved your phiz,” said Dick, as he looked at the head of the idol. sort of ornament-for his room. “Where did you; “You couldn't lose it even under the most strenuous of circum- asked the dealer, as he was paying the money. | stances, eould you? Well, I'll keep you, if only for the sake of He * was ra that they came from an old house down the road} your beastly smirk.” j t had prsiaiag ora. pulled o after the property was sold, be speaking, Dick — the head on his bureau and went — Ser pt ae TeEDOE eter? Beets -0F to bed. ; : Sig Pay morning was ‘Suet, and Dick, glad that he didn't oe go to the store te open up at seven, took an extra map eo finally turned out about eight 0 o'clock. 2 : ‘| “Well, old chap,” said Dick, as he was aijentine wees ies ha re for a yearjand tie, arith kant the grinning head of ther Chin ; l. | “you met with hard luck last night, ee ig But, See nd} from the cheerful « expression on y ret ae e, © re ware a cent < wonder it T poe 4 § ae id Peper mie Woo " ,
Page 17
geez : A FREAK OF FORTUNE. a SS aes — He took the head up and looked at it. “What are you going to do with an ax?” Then he saw that there was an opening in the neck, indi-| “Open up the mystery.” cating that the head was hollow. “IT suppose you expect to solve it by ax-i-dent,” chuckled He casually turned it over and glanced into the hole. Joe. Dick went to the outhouse and brought the ax. “Before we start I'll let you in on all I know about it. Here is a paper I discovered tucked away in the head of that Chi- nese idol. Read it and let me know what you think about it.” He handed his chum the paper and Joe read it. “You found this in the idol’s head, did you?” “Yes, and the idol came from thee Hawkesley house that was torn down a couple of months ago.” Joe read the paper a second time, more eaxetaly than be fore. “Maybe there’s a lot of money hidden in that tree,” he said eagerly. ; “I wish there was, but it doesn’t seem reasonable for a person to hide money in a tree and then leave a clue like this for any stranger to find it by.” “That's so. If it isn’t money it must be something valuable.” “I'm afraid the whole thing is a fake. I’ve passed close to that old dead tree a store of times, and I guess you have, too. / Now, I never noticed anything about it to show that the trunk / wasn’t perfectly solid. like any other tree.” : .“That’s right,” nodded “oe. “Now, supposing it actually is hollow, how was anything concealed within it without leaving any signs of an opening having been made?” “The opening may have been made in the back.” . “Or the trunk, being hollow all the way up to the erotch, whatever is inside may have been dropped in at the top.” “Exactly,” coincided Joe. “Well, we'll go down to the tree and see what we can make out of it. Bonnie is coming along, too.” Dick ealled the girl and she came outside with her hat on, followed by her only possession, Dewey, a medium-sized hound she ‘had raised from a pup. + Dick had already taken Bonnie into his confidence, and con- sequently she understood why Dick carried the ax. “Let’s each give a guess as to what we'll find ‘in the fener: . said Joe. / ia “What's your guess?” asked Dick. “A tin box full of banknotes and papers,” replied Joe. “What There was a piece of paper inside. Inserting his finger, he drew it out and was about to throw it away, when it occurred to him to open it out and look at it. He found there was writing on it—something scribbled in a secrawling hand. He bad no trouble in deciphering the few words. This is how they read: “He who is lucky enough to find this paper may regard it as a freak of fortune. Let him go to the old walnut-tree which stands within a dozen feet of the ruins of the stone house once used as a dwelling by me and my wife. The tree, appar- ently sound and solid at its rodts, is really‘hollow. An ax will readily reveal what has for twenty years been concealed within, For reasons known only to myself, and must forever remain - unexplained. I put it there, and bequeath it as a legacy to whoever finds it, either by accident or through this paper. “ (Signed) JOHN HAWKESLEY.” Dick stood for several minutes with his eyes riveted on the writing. “What the dickens can this mean? . Something buried in the hollow trunk of that old walnut-tree down the road? What can it be that is hidden there? ‘He who is lucky enough to find this paper may regard it as a freak of fortune,”” he breathed, re-reading the first line. “That indicates something - of value to be there. Why should a person conceal anything of value in the hollow of a tree for some stranger to find-and profit by? It doesn’t seem natural for any man to do this un- less he was not in his right mind. Maybe this is a joke. And yet this idol certainly came from John Hawkesley’s house. I never saw him, for he died a good many years ago, but from what I’ve heard of him he didn’t seem to be a man who took an interest in jokes. They say he looked like a pretty hard customer. There was some mystery about bim and his wife, at any rate. They never were friendly with, or even spoke to, any of the people who lived near them. They were regular hermits. _ Well, I think it will do no harm to investigate the matter, at any rate. If there's nothing in it I won't be any worse off for looking inte it. I shan’t tell anybody but Joe about this, so do you say?” anes cok ere any one having the lapgh on me, if the “tam west ee to think that we shall find, if we find = thin. > _| anything, e evidences of some crime committed by Jobn. q ps cg a pen Pac and went down-| powkesley. From’ all I’ve heard about him, he seems to have _ : tales. Tia a meee te Mandaceehal with Bonnie, where been a pretty hard character. I heard Mr. Brand tell mother ‘ i - a Le Teoma et thecair earn “pie pag seen gp once that in his opinion, John Hawkesley had once upon a a= met Joe 7 Fe sy at ch bed : time been an outlaw or road agent.” “Sy _ After chureh Joe w: Ww m. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. Father has remarked = “What do you think, Joe,” said Dick, after they had got q ‘started along the road, “that idol of mine met with a serious| MOre chim ones that Mawkesley looked lke a man who had accident.” “Well, whatey “1 2 What happened to it?” ell, whatever he was, or whether he had anything on nanekehcbet broke ade ; it took a tumble.” his conscience or not, he’s dead and gone now for good.” en tees “You don’t say. Did it bre A Ne ol iargpe Ah «3 fad aoe of a crime, eh?” said Joe. “ t into about 4° oxen pieces, but the head was “What do you th Ss en in the old tree, Bonnie?” 3 ahd an at “ul.” ‘ Sib, bs “T guess there's a barrel heaping full of money,” she replied, _ “That's too bad. I suppose the head is no good without a with dancing eyes. “Well, if there is, Bonnie, you'll come in for a share of jit,” ~ “The head was the best part of it. I’m going to glue it to a| #ushed Dick. - piece of wood so it will look as if the rest of it was buried un- They talked of nothing but the result of the expedition, . derneath. That's the best I can do with his grinning idolship.” | Which, to say the truth, was a problem. 5 et made the bracket break? Did you secure it well At length they came in sight of the ancient walnut with\he crumbling stone house beside it. | site. fenced off from the road, and there were no houses They entered the enclosure through a break in the fence rs walked over to the tree, which they first surveyed on all + aber. It looked as solid as any tree they had ever seen in their lives, and there was nothing to show that a hole had ever been” made in it. en “If there’s anything concealed inside that trunk, it Spe ba got there through an opening in the top,” said oom Neither boy cared to climb the’ his Sunday clothes would have suffered thereby. “It will be something of a job to cut int Joe. “However, 2 you say.so I'll start “You can oa the ee rte ae “L thought I did, but it seems that I didn't.” “Well, you're out a dollar.” Prob + ye queda arena: ermmciaing ." h at else? is a mystery as yet.” : 7 Bo age A a Joe. +" like mysteries, but still I me et ea after done, il. you, and we'll divestignte Pies dita Si tin pata otsDiek’s the house, while Joe went on. (aug three o'clock a Joe mete his appearance
Page 18
that the weapon buried itself right up to the handle. “It is hollow!” cried Joe, in some excitement, as, with con- siderable difficulty, he released the blade. Then all looked at the hole and saw a dark void beyond the thin dent made by the ax. “This begins to look interesting,” said Dick, eagerly, while Bonnie held her breath in expectation of what was to follow. Joe worked away now like.a good fellow and soon enlarged the hole considerably. Both boys in turn tried to look inside, but met with little success. Dick felt for his match-safe, but recollected that it was in his other trousers. Joe didn't have any matches about him, either, so he re- sumed work more eagerly than ever, His arms, however, grew tired before any discovery had been made, and Dick grabbed the ax and got busy, while Joe put on his jacket so as not to get cold, for he was perspiring like a good fellow. Dick hacked away, clearing a space all the way to the roots along the surface of the trunk, and then striking inward. In this way he gradually enlarged the opening Joe had begun, and as the light penetrated into the tree it soon became apparent that there was something inside. ; oy This something gradually developed into a stout keg. “You're a wonderful guesser, Bonnie,” said Dick. “It is a small barrel. The question is, what does it contain?” “Why, money, of course,” laughed the girl. “If the first part of my guess has come true, why not the other part?” “No such luck, I’m afraid,” replied Dick. “That’s too good ‘to turn out true.” He stuck his arms through and felt of the barrel. ' “It’s heavy, at any rate,” he said, withdrawing his arm and yee resuming work. He devoted his efforts now to widening the hole so that he could haul the keg out of its prison, Finally he thought that the opening was broad enough to accomplish this. Throwing the ax aside, Dick seized the barrel and tried to dislodge it from its hiding-place. “Gee whiz!” exclaimed Caspertield, in astonishment. ne chock full of money.” a Such was the fact, and Bonnie Barton uttered a little shriek rely ot was. ga : “It’s CHAPTER XTIl. THE GOLD THAT VANISHED, As Dick had to tilt the keg to drag it out, a score or more of ia ee natin ees be wepeerad Pieces fell out and rolled over toward the dog, who seemed to be as much interested in the aa ings as the rest. At length Dick got the keg of money out in the light and all gathered about it in great excitement. nay It was a find for fair, and if all the coins were $20 pieces, the sum ‘total would be all of fifty or seventy-five thousand _ dollars. “Talk about luck,” ejaculated Joe, at length, “you seem to have struck it good and hard. Why, there’s a ‘mint of money Cai keg—enough to make you independent for life. That idol was the biggest kind of an investment. Just as oe you had bought a ticket in a frtey for a dol- os eke aoe capital prize.” "Ale ty rraprtcr sexys oritadse by the remarkable mes fortune that : had come to him through the grinning idol. low are you going to carry that keg home?” asked Joe. he only I see is for you to go to the farm, harness up. your light wagons and drive down here. We haven't any- n the shape of a rig at our house,” replied Dick. “I'll Tag get a share ¢ of this money for your bel in this Do yo ou Ly he ma) Dick?” cried Joe, eagerly. rtainly ri gall $ en T'm off like a shot. If anybody comes down the road gone, don’t let Pose gold, ifor we ae Pe A FREAK OF FORTUNE. : the wood, and than the next stroke met with so little resistance} were alone, for not a soul had come in sight along the road | since they entered the little field where the tree and ruin were. But there had been two observers of all that had passed from the moment the boys and Bonhie came upon the scene Two men, hidden in the ruin of the old stone house, had observed the arrival of the trio and wondered what had brought them there. These men were none other than Mr. Brand and his asso- . ciate, Jim Sykes. After withdrawing to a neighboring town on the river below the lake on the day they had been left by the boys on the east- ern shore, near the railroad tracks, they had at length ventured back, bent on revenge for the throw-down received at the hands of Dick Leslie. If Dick had known of their presence in the neighborhood he certainly would not have felt easy. If he had also had a glimmering of their intentions toward him he would undoubtedly have taken every precaution to avoid them. But he was entirely ignorant of both those facts, and conse- quently off his guard. The two rascals had from their concealment watched the attack on the old, dead walnut-tree with some astonishment and not a little curiosity. They had no intention just then of making their presence known, on account of Joe and Bonnie, and so they lay low and awaited developments. The discovery of the cank of gold coin, however, entirely altered their plans. From the conversation of Joe, Dick and Bonnie they soon perceived that the young people had uncovered a veritable treas- ure-trove, and they immediately resolved to secure possession of it for themselves, at any cost, for this was a golden opportunity to provide themselves with unlimited funds never amet | to come their way again. While they were considering how they should dake their at- tack on the trio, the departure of Joe for the wagon greatly simplified matters for them. It was comparatively child’s play, they thought, to knock out Dick and the girl, and then carry off the money to the marsh near the head. of the creek where the sloop still lay moored, though they were not yet aware of that fact. To make things all the easier for them, Dick and Bonnie, with the dog at her feet, sat against the fence, near the tree, so that it looked simple for them to crawl! up on the other side and grab them before they woke up to the realization of their peril. That is exactly the programme that the rascals adopted. And there is no doubt but that it would have been suecess- ful but for the dog. As Mr. Brand and Sykes were sneaking upon the unsuspect- ing pair, the hound’s acute sense of smell detected their ap- proach and he sprang to his feet and began to bark. Dick and Bonnie looked about, but did not see their enemies, who were behind, on the other side of the fence. Presently, however, the animal sprang at the fence, then Dick jumped up and confronted Sykes. The boy was taken by surprise. ¥ Before he could recover himself the ruffian struck him a heavy blow with his fist between the eyes, and Dick went down like a shot. Bonnie uttered a scream of alarm. : The hound leaped through the fence at Sykes, who downed him with a vicious kick. The dog quickly recovered and went for the scoundrel in red- hot earnest. In the meantime, Brand vaulted the fence, grabbed Bonnie and stifled her cries with his hand. She tried to fight him off, but he seized her by the throat and she soon sank insensible on the grass. ; “Come here, Brand,” roared Sykes; “get a stone and brain this beast!” ‘ Mr. Brand picked up a stick, fortunately not thinking of the beta! attacked the hound with it, finally compelling bim to The rascals then climbed the fence and pulled the keg of gold” out of the bushes, where they had seen Dick place it. A glance at its contents made their eyes bulge witty satisfac. them get on to what you've found, or| tion and their mouths water. ver the village “There must be $50,000 in that keg,” said Brand, esa 2 : es all of rey bet yer og NS ibe al :
Page 19
; A FREAK OF FORTUNE. 1 oF + ie ee = - Contents of the keg into them, putting the larger share in his own. Gathering the ends ‘of the coats together, like a pudding bag, they tied them with some pieces of rope they had and then, ». lifting their bundies on their shoulders, they started for the >>. Marsh. Bonnie recovered her senses in time to note the direction taken by the rascals, and then she threw herself down beside Dick and tried to reviye him. She had little difficulty, as he was coming to, anyway. He felt decidedly groggy at first, but came around soon. ~ , The first thing he noticed was the keg which had contained the gold lying on its side quite empty. “Good heavens! The rascals have taken the money!” he oe peg in despair. “Did you see which way then went, The girl pointed out the direction in which she had seen the two men vanish. , “The’ve gone toward the marsh and the head of the creek,” said Dick. “They must know that the sloop is there. It will be easy for them to escape in her, and the money will be lost to anit must follow them at once. How long have they been “Only a few minutes,” replied Bonnie. “Then I'll be able to head them off, for they have more than two miles to go and, loaded down with that gold, they won't be able to travel fast. Now, Bonnie, I want you to hurry up the . Toad and meet Joe. Tell him what has happened. That Sykes and my rascally stepfather have come back to this neighborhood, and that they’ve got possession of the money we found in the tree. ‘Tell him to let you drive hisrig down to our house and to follow me himself to the head of the creek where the sloop is. Do you understand, Bonnie?” “Yes, Dick,” she said, and calling her dog, started up the road, while Dick sprang over the fence and followed on the track of Sykes and Mr. Brand. | CHAPTER XIV. ON THE TRAIL OF THE TREASURE a Sykes and his companion found the gold a heavy load for to carry, and they were compelled to make frequent stops for rest. E ' Tn fact, their progress was so slow that Dick reached the sloop a long time in advance of them. His first idea was to send the craft adrift so that the rascals could not make use of her, but as there was scarcely any wind, and no flow of tide to speak of, he found this to be almost im- practicable. : Then he decided to hide in the forepeak and try and take the men by surprise in some way. He found there the club Joe had provided himself with that morning on Goat Island, and it was a very effective weapon in determined hands, Crouching down under the scuttle-cover, he impatiently waited for what was to come, hoping that Joe might turn up in time to help him out. It was a good twenty minutes before anything developed, and then Diek saw Sykes and his companion approaching slowly, staggering under their golden burdens. _ Their astonishment was great, while their satisfaction was . unbounded, when they saw the sloop moored to the same old stump. ‘ we “We're right in it, Brand!” cried Sykes, gleefully. “This will Iet us out of all the trouble we looted for. We'll sail out into the lake and down to the river, while we're bein’ hunted year ashore. Carry your bundle aboard and we'll lose no time gettin’ off while the chance is ours.” Brand was glad to get his load on the sloop’s deck. He was about done up by the weight of it, added to the ter- _- ror of possible capture, by the way, for he didn’t begin to possess @ the nerve of bis associate in guilt. ght , - Sykes followed him on board, and as soon as they laid their bundles down they cast the stops off the niainsai\. and hoisted Sen ot ie jib and finally released the shore line from and the sttimps 440 Pe > pos yet P hat the sloop still clung to her mooring spot, they : and, taking the after-line over their shoulders, starte tow her, stern foremost, down the creek. This was mighty slow work, but ae only way they \ DONE eu OR that sprang up so suddenly that the two men had to hustle to take a couple of reefs in the mainsail. > The sloop was now pitching about on the foam-capped sur- face of the lake and rushing toward the river like a wild sea- bird. The clouds soon covered the sky like a dense pall, and the rain came down in sheets, sounding above Dick's head like the roll of many drums. Mr. Brand had retreated to the cabin, as he found he was of ducking that Sykes was Had he not been an boatman, the fate ot | shore of the lake. 1 y Sykes, however, in spite of the gloom, seemed to know -_ Dick passed an anxious time during the worst of the nain
Page 20
enough provisions to last them for the trip to the city they, were aiming for on the connecting river. It was about this time that Sykes, after taking a sharp look- out ahead, fixed the tiller so that it would hold in one position for a while, and then went below into the eabin. ‘I am probably risking all en a single cast of fortune’s dice,” breathed Dick, “but somehow I feel confident that success will come my way. At any rate, I’m tired of hugging this forepeak and being a passive spectator in this little drama, which is so important to me. I’m just in the humor for taking a hand in the proceedings.” He did not wait to allow his resolution to grow cold, but crawled out of the little galley, club in hand, and glided aft, like a shadow in the gloom. He had hardly taken up his position near the opening when he heard footsteps on the brass-bound stairs, Believing it to be Sykes, he nerved himself for the encounter. A moment later a head and shoulders rose out of the com- panionway. He did not stop to look closely, as the figure presented a tempting mark, but swung his club down with full force. A cry rang out on the night air, and the man pitched forward in a senseless heap on the deck. “What's wrong up there?” roared out the voice of Sykes. Dick’s heart almost stopped beating. It was not the burly villain, after SM, that he had knocked out, but his stepfather, Mr. Brand. CHAPTER XY. CONCLUSION, As Mr. Brand was in no shape to reply to his companion’s hail, Sykes, wondering was bad happened on deck, came rush- ing up to find out. As Sykes sprang out on deck he stumbled over Brand’s legs. _ which lay in bis path, and whieh he didn’t notice in his hurry - and on account of the darkness. _ The result was that Sykes pitched forward over. Brand’s body, ltis head hit the low rail and he disappeared over the sloop’s side. . There was a splash, a hoarse ery, partly drowned by the d, and the submerged rascal was soon left far in the wake of the vessel. The lurching of the craft had also thrown Dick across the cabin opening, the club flying out of his hand and winging its Way overboard. When he recovered his feet he realized that he and his un- scious stepfather were the only ones on resca the sloop. ’ Bringing the sloop up into the wind and allowing the boom to swing over to port, the boy started to beat his way back the _ way they had come. he wind being against him, he found that he would have > to work back by short tacks, according as the stream diverged ss “from a straight course. -It was close on to daylight when he entered the lake and Na headed for Hdywoods. 4 Several hours bad elapsed since the startling event which had placed him in full possession of the vessel! had occurred, 7 and he had heard nothing from Mr. Brand. “I must have given him a terrible crack. I took him for "Sykes, and laid on with all my strength. I hope I didn’t frac- ture his skull. I would not like to be responsible for his death, bad as he is.” When the sun rose in a cloudless sky the sloop was a short distance to the eastward of Goat Island. b Serie eer Fe S0es AE Ale aeion. Loy sober eee ‘attended to Mr. Brand, if he needed any particular “ininutes later he hauled down the mainsail and al- d the vessel to drift into a small cove. ; ‘soon as he came to a stop he let down the jib also. that she would lie in her present berth without being to the shore, Dick ran down into the cabin, into ea his erptather. fe FS ea ee a poi ey EF a AIRY a ate “If be doesn’t regain his senses by the ae ri gir te Cae = a doctor to attend , A FREAK OF FORTUNE. nih examination, Dick found a bundle in each locker and pulled them out. “Well, thank goodness, I've recovered it. That’s 2 great sat- isfaction to me, at any rate. If I had lost that treasure, which _ came to me in such a curious and unexpected way, I should have been all broken up. I wonder if I couldn’t make small, portable bundles of it? Then it would be easy to handle. Won't mother be astonished when I show her all this wealth and tell her that it is all mine? No more store work for me after this. I'll go to school and finish my education, and then I'll be able to embark in some business’ in which there is a future.” Dick eut up a dozen pieces of canvas and, dividing the money into that many piles, tied up the mouth of each with a stout cord. Then he stowed them away in the port locker and covered them with a piece of sailcloth. “No one would ever suspect that under that there is fifty ‘to seventy-five thousand dollars in good American gold coin,” he said to himself, in a tone of great satisfaction, shutting the locker. He was about to return on deck and put the sloop on her course once more, when Mr. Brand opened his eyes and, after staring at Dick for a‘moment, struggled to a sitting posture. He seemed to be a good bit dazed, which was not to be won- dered at, considering the whack his brain-pan had sustained. “How do you feel, Mr. Brand?” asked Dick, reassured by his stepfather’s recovery. Brand glared at him in no friendly way. “What happened to me, and where is Sykes?” he asked, in a sulky tone. Dick told bim what had happen ed to his companion, and explained that he had sailed the sloop back as far as Goat Island, and was about to continue the trip to the creek. Then he upbraided his stepfather for his conduct, and told him that he need never expect to return to the cottage. “However, lll do more than the fair thing by you,” con- tinued the boy. “Here is a $20 gold piece. Take the first train for Cloverdale, and take a room at the Bates House. I'll call there in a few days with a sum of money to start you oug in the world on your own hook. It will be all you'll get from us,'so I advise you to make good use of it. If you should reform your habits, and become a respectable man, you may write and jet us know how, you are getting on, otherwise we don’t want ever to hear of you again. Now, if you feel able, I want you to come on deck and assist me in getting the sloop under way again.” Mr. Brand listened to his stepson in a stolid way and, with- out uttering a word, followed the boy on deck. The sails were hoisted and 2n hour later the sloop put in at one of the village wharves, where Dick told his stepfather te go ashore, which he did. Dick then carried the vessel up the creek, moored her at her, old anchorage, and went home. where he was joyfully received. Bonnie bad already told Mrs. Brand about the money that Dick had found in‘the old walnut-tree, how it was stolen by Mr. Brand and Sykes, who had come upon them so unexpect- edly, and how Dick had started to recover it, so that all that - Dick had to tell was bis adventures from the moment he parted from the girl. After breakfast he and Bonnie made several trips to the sloop and brought the bags of gold to the cottage. It was subsequently deposited in the Haywoods Bank to Dick’s credit. Dick carried out his purpose of giving up work and finishing his education, and in due time went to college, from which be graduated with honors. He and Joe then went into business in Silicia, to which een his mother and Bonnie, now a bright and handsome young lady of nineteen, removed as a matter of course. oon. after their atrival, Bonnie became Mrs. Dick Leslie, aiid the mistress of a fine home on one of the principal resi- dential streets of the town. Dick is now a prosperous man, gue was lately elected Mayor of Silicia. “Next week's in will contain “PHE PRINCE OF WALL STREET; OR, A BIG BEAM: FOR BIG MONEY.”
Page 21
hei ~ FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. CURRENT NEWS Hawkinsyille, Ga., has a well which refuses to work at night. This well, which is located at the county jail, had an estimated flow of about 50 gallons per minute until to a rigid discipline. this, in connection with the fact that never in his life has he touched any kind of intoxicating drink and never _ ~ Every day he takes a long walk, and about a year ago. Then it suddenly quit flowing, but only | smoked, keeps him in the best of condition at all times. in the daytime. It begins flowing about 9 o’clock in the _ morning. Prof. Virgil Wiley, a teacher in the Franklin High School, Columbus, Ind., found one of his Barred Rock hens, which he believed had been stolen. The hen was wn der the reservoir of a kitchen range, which had fallen over her and imprisoned her. For thirty days the hen was without food or water, yet she was alive when found. Gold or silver wateh chains can be cleaned with a very excellent result, no matter whether they be matt or pol- ished, by laying them for a few seconds in pure aqua ammonia.. They, should then je rinsed in alcohol, and _~ finally shaken in clean sawdust, free from sand. Imita- - tion gold and. plated chains should be cleaned in benzine, __ then rinsed in alcokol, and afterward shake in dry saw- ‘ ines me + 4 Bot knowing that her son, Austin Lattin had hidden a $5 bill in a pair of his old shoes, Mrs. Heian Latenser, at Atchison, Kan., gave the shoes to a beggar. within an hour after Mrs. Latenser had given him the shoes the beggar returned and gave her the money that he - found in them. ~ ‘ ' When the little iron safe in the home of T. R. Lamm Was opened at Wilson, near Raleigh, N. C., more than $50,000 in ‘cash was found, Lamm died the other week a and it was supposed that he was worth $100,000, but now aos appears he was worth three times that amount. An ~ old home-made sack in the safe contained $34,832 in gold e gear neates and thirteen envelopes held $16,000 in cash, a Se It hi been quite, cially recognized that France was ~ saved, in the early days of the war, by the aid of motor ehicles, which enabled rapid mobilization of troops and ‘supplies to be effected; and since that time, in this mechanical war, the uses, and the necessity for motor ve grown to such an extent that it is fully mized that the army that is best supplied with trans- ‘tion facilities, both for men and supplies, easily i i hae strength that is not so equipped. ———_— or orld’s. beat billiant’ player, says ry for a billiard player to keep in con- -a hor wee oot for a hard bout. war But in| which the marines were enabled in thirty seconds to em- this case an honest heart beat under a dirty shirt and| ploy an effective machine-gun fire. rt to bury, the ¢ C. F. Stagger, a marine diver, received an official permit from the War Department to save the Russian sloop of Neva, wrecked off Cape Edgecombe, near Sitka, ~ Alaska, about sixty years ago. The Neva was en route to Sitka with about $200,000 in gold to pay the crews of the Government vessels stationed at Sitka and other Gov- . ernment officers. After striking the reef she was aban- doned and later slid into deep water. The Russian Gov- ernment tried to secure the gold, but abandoned the effort for\lack of a proper wrecking outfit. Elephants and camels, carrying two machine-gun sec- tions of the 28th Company of the U.S. Marine Corps, quartered at the exposition at San Diego, Cal., took part in experimental maneuvers recently. Mounting ‘one | operator and tripod machine gun to an elephant, attended by several U.S. Marines on foot, the elephants displayed _ surprising agility in traveling over rough ground and wheeling into proper position for firing. The elephants, 3 when ordered to lie down, made a breastworks, behind . ad . aye 4 a. Hu has Se. Pg oth oN te ah. net act r ty my La es, The most disgusted bulldog in the world belongs to Alex Kane, a harber, of Darby, Pa. The militant spirit — of the animal was aroused when James Martin, a driver} began sliding coal into Kane’s basement. The dog flew at Martin and obtained a “strangle hold” on his right leg. For ten minutes the dog growled and chewed. without — having the slightest effect on Martin. Finally the animal let go and crept sheepishly under the porch. After the — dog had released his grip, Martin pulled up his right trousers leg to find out how much damage the teeth of dog.had inflicted on his artificial limb of wood, nas leather, The largest mass cf ice*in the =i is probably the which fills up nearly the whole of the interior of Gree land, where it has accumulated since before the da history. It is. believed to now form a block of 600,000 square miles i in area and averaging a aie half in thickness. According to these statistics the of ice is larger in volume than the whole body of the Mediterranean, and there is enough of it whole of the United Kingdom of Great Ireland with a layer about seyen miles thi cut into two convenient slabs and built up the entire surface of Wales it would form ‘than 120 miles. high. There i area of the
Page 22
ieee FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. HARRY, THE HUSTLER > = OF ——— THE BOY WHO WAS READY FOR BUSINESS By GASTON GARNE ® (A SERIAL STORY) CHAPTER XVI. Not a voice was raised in Wicks’ favor, even from his zi A STRANGE MOVE IN THE GAME. / | friends. . : Z es That he was most unpopular with his fellow townsmen - This would have meant simply ruin, for Wicks was 2 | was apparent enough. lawyer, and a candidate for the South Dakota Legisla-| «phe hoy was dead right!” shouted Dink. “TI saw it ___ ture, so Editor Smith had informed Harry. all and heard it all... He is my friend, and I stand for _ 5 It was the knowledge of these things which gave Harry| him. Line up gentlemen ! Everybody who can catch ___ the courage to fold his arms and retort: have a:drink pad me.” BE “Well, sir, T simply told the mayor what you. said to| Phrusting his hand into his pocket, Dink three times _ me, and the editor of the Nugget got the same informa-| yyMNed it out full of small silver and flung the money _ tion. Make the most of it. As for the accusations in, that among the crowd. a Se ge you, you know best whether they are true} This set everybody to scrambling for dimes and quar- Harry almost wondered that the councilman stood quiet wee for ‘Councilman Dink!” they yelled. “Hooray Tong. enough to hear these somewhat lengthy remarks, but| for Dink Davis’ One man shouted out, “Three cheers A Re did. for our next mayor!” _ -He'threw his hand toward his hip pocket as he hissed! Dink lifted his big hat, waved it about his head with a ei war-whoop, and, putting his arm over Harry’s shoulder, ‘I woul apy you, only that vy are nothing but a/jed him into the hotel. “Boy.” Harry was amazed, puzzled and perplexed to know what v AY = was gathering. Harry ‘still stood with his |) do—all in the same breath. i “arms: folded, feeling perfectly secure. — He kept his head, however. “Don’t let my age stand in your way!” he cried. “I|} -He:saw that Dink Davis was evidently a power in ve nothing. buut my own two fists to protect, myself | Dodgetown. . You shoot me if you dare!” This received additional proof from the deference with _ “Hold on; Wicks! Hold on, for heaven’s sake! Don’t | which Davis was received when they entered the hotel. ) abything rash !”” cried Jack Winston as he and Trafton} Hager, the proprietor, came’ forward, rubbing his hands ne hurrying up in the most obsequious manner. “Take that Ge your insolenee, you pup!” roared Wicks, “Ah, Mr. Davis!” I saw it all! This young man served . he ¢ deliberately spit in Harry’ s face. -|Kim just right. You know my Spinone of Wicks. - Will you both join me in a drink?” “No.” said Davis. “What drinking I do I as in my own establishment. What I want is a private room where T can have a few moments’ polrgrastion with Mr. Howe without the chance of being distur “You shall have it, Mr. Davis! You shall have it, sir! Just step this way, gentlemen. By the way, Mr. Davis, — ughly but’ for a big man who sprang to his side. ff!” he shouted. “Don’t lay a hand on this ‘Wicks dead right, and ‘m his friend.” a . © Davis, the saloonkéeper. é diamond and all. ar v ‘the ioe. Somer’ bien, and feared him. “That’s right. He moves in next wi 5 “Ts it so? “A good stand that, close to “the Alfaretta . {have been tempted to invest myself” — | Landlord Hager ushered them into a little room which oe opened | off from the cafe and billiard-room, where bs left Hie to mn said Dink 1 Pay se, 7 i I understand you:have sold out your place to Tke Pisa ak se ~|mine. If I wasn’t handicapped with this house I me as hers
Page 23
FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. Se “I don’t know anything about that,” replied Harry, _ with a coldness which he could not restrain. I allow no man to spit in my face.” _ “Right. Wicks is a consummate rascal. most bitter enemy. He did his blamedest to keep me out of the council when I was elected last fall.” ~ “So you are a member of the Dodgetown council ?” “J am, sure. Don’t be too much surprised.” “T'm not ane ag at anything which goes on in this _ town. ” . Dink Davis iota and took a long puff at his cigar. “Lively place, isn’t it?” he remarked. “By the way, do you smoke?” “No, thank you. I never indulge. I am obliged to you for standing up for me, but don’t you think we had better _ get down to business? I’m ready myself.” ~ “You have shown yourself good and ready for business from the very start—ever since ygu struck this town, in - fact. Well, I’m ready, too. Have you remembered me pe i E> *E have.” _ “T knew it.” bead - You are thinking now that if 4 mete ay ? «Thank you for your Snicom, Well, who am I?” “I don’t know your name, unless it is the one you go here in Dodgetown. First time I say. you wes on 8 yrtle avenue trolley car two years ago.” “Right. I was shadowing you.” - “You were following me up pretty closely. You fol- lowed | me out to Ridgewood, and there you spoke to me ut the station.” fs ~ ‘Right again. I dicted you the way to the ejagennien = Out.” % ; “You did.” “You saw me again that night in the toolhouse in the os see ‘si have a ba it sireiglit.” Those two men ran off ¢ roommate, Sam Wilson, and they thought they getting me.” ets started working. I am that man.” efore he had Pecpomenctie: “What am I to make hig ver since yok came Sate my plead ” said Davis, slowly. “Of course, you were n you } Sweet me, but fancy my sur- cdl front of sia bar.- alt “T know that{ me for a friend or an enemy, just as you please.” He is my| is?” “Right again. T see you’ have an excellent memory once what then?” asked Harty, sitting down now, | t{ |a truer word.” 21 = “Tam neither threatening nor coaxing. You can have “According whether I talk about what has been or what replied Harry quietly. “T see you are up to snuff.” “Not only up to snuff, but ready for business. You seem to occupy a pretty prominent position in this {omy | It wouldn’t pay me to make you my enemy just now.’ “Not if you want to collar that bridge contract,” said Dink Davis, tk ing out a big stream of smoke. “Exactly so. “T can give it to you. as easily as you knocked out old Fatty Wicks. really ready for business now is your chance.” “Graft!?, thought Harry, for Dink Davis’ meaning seemed too ‘plain to admit of a mistake. I can throw it into your hands If you are r CHAPTER XVII. - A DEAL WITH DINK. ; sistas : ’ Harry did not for the moment answer Dink Davis. . oy f If there was one thing above another that Mr. Long- = worth despised it was playing into the hands of grafters. cee Some people called the old mason a back number, anda | + man behind the times, but so great was his skill and so excellent his reputation for good work that until about theq? 8 time Harry was taken into his service he had been able to + ge stand on his own merits. ‘ oe « But there was no denying that he had been rather los- oe ing ground of late, for grafting and grafters- were becom- — ing a more common factor in business every day. ‘aos Thus Harry knew as well as he knew anything that Mr. Longworth would stand for no graft. +4 Yet to tell this man so might be absolutely fatal to. the success of his undertaking, as Harry fully realized. He sat silent for a few minutes, thinking, for the fact» a : 4 was he neither knew what to do nor what to say. “Well,” said Dink, at last, “have you got it all "ial up } vet?” “Nie on “Got what all chewed up? “What do you ‘mean? Be “You know what I mean.” “Perhaps you can read my thoughts?” “Sure; I’m a mind-reader. Didn’t -suth know?” 4% “Took here, Mr. Davis——” a ve “Dink, my boy; Dink! . Pete the name eT lke ) called out here.” a “Well, then, Dink, T | jedae® you want: commis the bridge contract in case you use ats efforts to it into my hands?” ve “Surest thing in Tis, my Sice boy. You: Z “Well, Tae pay it” i a :
Page 24
FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. ITEMS OF INTEREST . _MOST EFFECTIVE TORPEDO IN THE WORLD. The United States navy has the most effective torpedo in the world, it was announced’ after a meeting of the naval consulting board, held behind closed doors at the navy yard in New York. > An aeroplane engine, said to represent the last word in engine construction, and a research laboratory to sur- pass anything of its kind hitherto erected, are soon to become realities, it also was announced. sAmong the documents submitted to the board for study and instruction were the correct designs of some of. the latest and most powerful war craft of the navies of the warring powers of Europe. , _ The board refused to divulge how these came into’ its possession. It was admitted that the foreign plans showed many improvements in warship construction and arma- ment that up to a short time ago were mysteries, so far as the American navy was concerned. Howard E. Coffin submitted in detail the plan approved _ by the president and worked ont by a committee of the js for the mobilization of the industries of the country. Thomas A. Edison submitted the final and complete plans and specifications for the great laboratory and ex- periment station, which it was voted unanimously to recommend to. the favorable attention of Congress. i, LARGE COINS. ~ ‘There is, it appears, in the possession of the American ‘Numismatic Society one of the largest coins eyer struck, being 23% by 13 inches and weighing 31 pounds. This _ coin is of copper and its coinage value in 1659 was 8 : Swedish dalers—equivalent to about $5.20 in American money. ‘As a curio and rarity its value has now multiplied a least one hundred fold. 1 genéral appearance the coin is a rectangular ingot, h five large, round stamps punched in it, one in each rand one in the center. Stamps were placed in the syd to prevent “clipping.” Each corner stamp carries the Swedish crown in the center and the date, 1659. 5 ‘Archnd the edge is the inscription of Carolus Gustavus X, Henig aha The center stamp states the value at ies ve struck at Avesta, Sweden, the Washing- s While tie from the mint it fell in, mio psn it the Numi : called “plate money.” Sweden uously ‘for 110 years, beginning Christina, daughter of Gustavus of cig, four, two, one and few days. dropped away from him as he shouldered his pick and d three dilers in shovel and went % work in the ee : ten» “Such large picces of pure copper were issued as money in order to find an outlet for the products of the Swedish copper mines without depreciating the value of the metal. All plate money is becoming rare. Daler and half daler pieces are most often found; twos and. fours are scaree, and the eight-daler pieces are no longer to be seen except in museums. FINDS FORTUNE IN DESERTED MINE. “Hobo Matt” Kelly has struck it rich in the Old Bodie mine. And somewhere in California the long-neglected wife of “Hobo Matt” will receive a fat check soon in/evi= dence of the fact. The ghost of a mine and the ghost of a man. The only two things “Hebo Matt” believed-in have remained true to his faith—his wife and the gold ledge of the Beehive days. He has won a lifetime’s gamble. He will have $100,000 in good, clean gold before his work is done. “Hobo Matt” is known in all the mining camps of the West... When “Old Bruin” Kelly, his uncle, was winning his fame upon the Comstock and as superintendent of the Bodie mine Matt was his trusted messenger. He became a miner. When the Beehive was turning out its millions » Matt was there. He knew every inch of those honey- combs of wealth. He gambled in Bodie stocks and won. He spent his. money as easily as he made it. He had married, but even his wife’s love could not hold him from the mad delights of those feverish bonanza days. Then Matt became “Hobo Matt.” With hié blanket on. his back he became a wanderer. In the back of his mind was the constant thought of that undiscovered ledge of gold in the Bodie, which he meant to have one day. Even in his cups he never disclosed his secret, biding his time. Last fall Matt decided that the time had come to. go back to Bodie. He found the place that onee held 10, sugf! busy men changed into a dreary, sleepy village of 200 in-' habitants, ‘The Old Reliable was! silent, the Siaiewe Company had dissolved, and J. 8. Cain, mining ees: had gathered in the old Bodie properties. ; When “Hobo Matt” appeared in camp and asked for the lease on the old mine he was laughed at. No one had any faith in the old wanderer. Cain turnéd him down. He went toa man who kad known him in his better days— Lester Bell—and told him the secret, offering to share | with him if Bell could get the lease. Bell did not have much faith, but he agreed to try ina Cain .gave the lease to Bell. The company’s — , engineers hed gone again into the mine and pronpunosd +) to it worthless. Then “Hobo Matt” became young again. Fok Thee ean
Page 25
_ MAX AND HIS MILLION WORKING FOR THE WIZARD OF WALL emma : By ED KING : (4 SERIAL STORY) CHAPTER XXIV (continued) | to have for those who drop out of the great struggle for : “Susie!” gasped Max, as the girl held out her hand. | wealth, have not forgotten the story. of Max and His E “Take her, Max!” cried the oil king. “I was foolish | Million _ enough to think she might be willing to marry me, but | THE END. 4 she very quickly let me know to the contrary. Take her, | a. moy ! This is your reward !” T NEXT WEEK a This is the end of our story of Max and his million. ou - } We propose to ring the curtain right’ down. A GRAND STORY ot That night Max settled it with Susie. Next day Jabez —rnTITLED— Coloney, that most mysterious man, was laid in his grave. : 7 _ Max was not married-for three years, for Susie was not H AL, T H E POOR BOY es = quite ready to abandon the stage. oR— 7 ? ~ When the wedding day finally came Max married one : of the most popular actresses in New York, and Susie) THE ADVENTURES OF TWO ORPHANS for a husband got a man whose seaside hotel is still one of “ay a - the most popular of its class. By Ed King Max devotes himself strictly to business. Next year he ‘ : . : proposes opening a large family hotel in New York. As Opening chapters begin ~ a boniface he has proved a perfect success. : . _ Joe McDuff is A head clerk at the Amawasit, and NEXT WEEK : \ 4 each summer a lonely old man, known as “Brown, the oil <i king,” has been Max’s star guest. Speaking before the American Academy of Political Be The kidnapers were not jailed. There was no other and Social Science on April 29, Civil Engineer Robert x _ way to avoid publicity but to set them free upon reach- Peary, U. S. N., urged the maportance ; of the Uni ee - ing New York, and this the detectives did. States securing ‘command of the air, and continued : es _ Arthur Brown was never heard of afterward. Some Bite ae mp ae : ie < eT os aaty Sea —— ‘ . r y speak advise y our alr service 0 a ~ elaim that he is dead; others that his father knows of his pie niet eae cori aia perce $oourpatey thaaieee inde Z _ whereabouts and supports him in a foreign land. ts ae Jake aed met with the usual experience zany. 60 Renny ccomtreet The’ aerapiane She Somer oa changed modern warfare. Surprise attacks arg no longer is ible. And_if one of the contestants can secure com- mand 6f the air and deprive the other of it conditions immediately become those of a fight between a blind man and one in possession of his eyes. An attack upon us must come by sea. Our coast line as a base gives us an inestimable advantage in aerial warfare, and will en- able us to send out such a veritable cloud of aeroplanes as would completely overwhelm and des roy any number oe 5 of aeroplanes that could be transported on the decks [3 See hostile fleet, thus leaving us in the possession of weet eyes and the enemy blinded. A single squadron of aero- — planes sweeping across New York, Philadelphia, Balti- more or Washington, in a frightful shower of falling bombs, would cause more damage in an hour than entire air service would cost. We should have aplanes Rage pclae Mop aD ' ‘the Pacific. — _ For a while—a mastic of months—he Séinlitinel to spec- oa on Wall Street, keeping as drunk as ‘possible all the while. - Of course, the ‘sniieva soon cleaned him out of his last ~_ dollar, and then he came whining around Max, first try-| ing to borrow thousands, and winding up by making it raigr prise ofa drink. At last he braced up and ance Max to give him, a job the hotel. Col. Dickory is now the ehouncer” at the-Amayasit, and only gets drunk on Mondays, when the business is light _and he has drawn his week’s pay. — . Se day Max has never heard from any one related izal Jabez z Coloney lived a mystery and died a mystery. ; on ‘all S$ for fo3 tips, for the) t of emo! 2 8
Page 26
FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. — INTERESTING TOPICS LONG TIME IN TRANS!T. . On October 3, 1883, a clerk in the employ of a New York steamship broker mailed a letter to the master of the Swedish bark Superior at Marseilles. ' The letter was never delivered, says the Washington Star. But in the autumn of 1913 it was returned to the steamship broker’s offiee, stamped all over its face. The best explanation offered for its thirty years in transit was that. it had lain in the Swedish consulate at Marseilles all those years, and that during a house-cleaning was found and remailed, In the Postoffice Department officials tell of a letter that was mailed from there in 1852, addressed to Robert S. McKay at New Orleans. The letter followed Mr. McKay to Russia, where he was a consulate attache. But he had died there, and had left in his will a provision that all his papers should be locked up until his five-year-old son and namesake attained his majority. When. 1868 arrived the son was traveling and explor- ing in Africa. A law clerk, not knowing the provisions of the 1852 will, supposed the letter was for the present Mr. McKay and started it forth again. It rested in Cape Town ‘through error until the year 1871. _ When it was started back to New Orleans, Mr. McKay had left for exploration in Chile. Letter and addressee finally got together in Louisiana in 1874. And strange : to say, matters of business importance to the father were 5 _’ gtill of business interest to the son. Ay TAILOR WEDS INDIAN HEIRESS. . The, gayeties of Miami, Okla., palled on a spirited girl Lee with an income of $250 a month in her own right and no + place to spend’ it. So Elise planned a little pleasure trip * to Kansas City, She is a half-breed Quapaw Indian and “9 has considerable ranch property which suddenly. developed as oil wells. G Elise Whitely, a civilized corruption of “White Cloud,” answers the query of what’s in a name quite satisfactorily. Anyway, that isn’t her name any longer. She became Mrs. -- Fyank Jackson recently. Mrs, Anna Cunningham, social investigator, acted as “matron of honor.” ~ “White Cloud” is pretty. Her mixed Indian and white plod have ‘given her a tumbling quantity of black hair and intensely black eyes with clear white skin. She in- , insists that ‘she is no “reservation Indian.” ; -“E'm civilized,” she declares firmly, “I have always »to white schools and have mee raised as any her FB pe . : American gir} it seemingly was forgotten that civilization recreation. In fact, they overlooked so fully that e e might be entitled to a, “little joy in life that the gir! ered Sialkot With $250 a month to pur- on rans ~hard to find. , as tre, a shot 3 oes arrow as chose he for a ae ‘|to defend the border. It is believed by t} although she was not at first aware of the wound.’ The man was merely a small town tailor, but he instituted a system of watchful waiting. He was planning against or time when she would want him and need him. When about a year ago Elise came here to see the bright lights, Jackson followed. He established himself at his trade and later he had his reward. “And now what will you do, stay in Kansas City or go back home?” the bride was asked. The bridegroom intervened, “Not for the present. We intend to take a long wedding trip first and—well, live happy ever afterward.” - ; MOTORCYCLE MACHINE GUN PLATOON. Among the novel things that havé come out of the West is the motorcycle machine gun platoon of the New Mexico Military Institute, It is under the command of Sergeant B. #. Leonard, a retired soldier of the United States army, who, though possessed of only one hand, can do more work than most men with two. Sergeant Leonard's hand was blown off by the bursting of a cannon while in the regular service in the Philippine Islands. Having become a motorcycle enthusiast, he conceived the plan of mounting on a side car one of the Colt’s ma- chine guns which had been issued to the New Mexico Military Institute by the United States Government. The gun tripod has shorter legs than are prescribed and is held on ‘the car by springs which are quickly released when ready to fire, The gun is then dismounted and is ready to fire in any direction. It can be mounted in a fraction of a minute and quickly rushed to another position. The side car has no springs, as the swaying motion they caused was' found to be a hindrance. The motorcycles have been run over the joughesk coun- try; they have carried five hundred pounds up a thirty per cent. grade. In one instan¢e, with full. equipment, they attained a speed of forty-three miles per hour and held it for thirty minutes over a fair road. The ammuni- tion and tool car which accompanies the gun carries 2,880 rounds and a belt reloading machine. As far as known this is the only organized motorevele machine gun corps in the United States, althongh there are many of them in Europe at the present time. One - gun and four men, with two motorcycles, are considered the equal of two hundred and fifty infantry men in de- fense; in attack their possibilities are greater; ina rear guard action they are almost indispensable. Sergeant Leonard has organized from among the cadets of the New Mexico Military Institute a detachment of — ten men, all mounted on motorcycles. This detachment, — fuchadina the two machine guns, has offered its services — to the-Governor of New Mexico. Tley- are ready on a moment’s notice to accompany the troops into Mexico, or in a position — e ‘useful ina to know that such a detachment would p } cha: pesca apacsitas Me any
Page 27
TIMELY Stephen Shafer, head gardener at Pembroke, the new $5,000,000 estate of Capt. J. R. Delamar at Glen Cove, L. I., died late the other night after drinking cider from ge pitcher which had contained paris green. It is supposed Shafer picked up a pitcher he had used in spraying plants. Several hours after drinking the cider he complained of _ being ill and he died before-a aie, could arrive from _ the Mineola Hospital. Geneva Brown, daughter of Charles Brown, of Vin- _ cennes, Ind., traveled alone from the home of her mother in Seattle, Wash., a distance of 2,550 miles. The little _ girl left Seattle before daylight one morning and was _ placed on a Northern Pacific train by her mother. , R. B. _ Dickinson, traveling passenger agent for the railroad - eompany, who was notified that the child was making the — trip, attended to the change of cars at Chicago. » Fred Newsom, reading a book beside an open window in his home, four blocks from the public square, Prince- ton, Ind., the other night was startled when he looked up and found a big wildeat with his paws on the window sill looking at him. Newsom jumped back and gave the _ alarm, which resulted in the animal’s death at the hands _ of a band of armed citizens. The wildcat was found to be ~ the property of Thomas Bruce, from whom it had escaped be ow a meperty of a year. A very peculiar accident happened at Greenway, six Jes west of Cedartown, Ga. While crossing the railroad rack Riley Thompson’s buggy was struck by a passing aoa train going about twenty miles an hour. The _ buggy was torn completely up, the mule escaping unhurt. ' The train stopped, the crew going back to hunt for the supant of the buggy. They could not find him and came into town. Here they discovered Mr. Thompson hang- y by. his clothes on the. front of the engine none the worse sw an aviation school, fell Yo feet. to his death. skull | was crushed, his left leg torn off and nearly bone in his" body broken. Worden was thirty-five d, He had been practising loop-the-loop and down for several weeks preparatory to filling ments: at State fairs. He was flying upside-down the ‘accident | occurred. Worden was a native of i N. oe and his hs i le ‘there. the ‘Ke _ on: the Wal- ~- inches: s 50-yard: dash, “Emma Downer, of Dayton,:' , Virginia Harrow, 4 FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. 25 — TOPICS Tribe. Fully 70 per cent., it is estimated, of the Indians of military age on the reservation are now wearing King George’s uniform as members of the Canadian expedition- ary force. Their reason for doing so, however, is not en- tirely patriotic. They hope, by demonstrating their yalor as soldiers, to win full rights of citizenship. A pair of immense gray eagles, the largest birds which have been seen in this part of the country for many years, were captured alive recently-by J. H. Simpson and F. M. Butler on their place near Saltfork, Okla. The male, it is estimated, will measure nearly eight feet from tip to tip. Its huge talons are as sharp as\an arrow, and its strong, hook-like bill would make short work of a young calf, colt, pig or lamb. It is said that this species of eagle is almost extinct, and the breed has been known to attack children and even to offer battle to men when thoroughly aroused. Mr. Butler will endeavor to keep the eagles alive. So great a demand is there for mates at the gohan factories in New Jersey and Connecticut that it is impos- sible for the owners of large estates, as well as farmers, | to obtain farm help in Nassau County. The State Labor Department’s free bureau established in April closed May 6, as there were no applicants for*the one hundred places registered by the bureau. Sixteen persons answered the one hundred ads for farmhands, thirteen of them being from Brooklyn, and all were put to work. Many did not know how to harness a horse, but the farmers were com- pelled to take them in lieu of none at all. Twenty servant girls were wanted, but none answered. The farmers can pay only $30 a month, with board and lodging. The'es-— tates pay $2.25 a day, with the same conditions. The lure vegetables may be at a ‘premium asa result. The Vassar College -record for the 100-yard dash ri, broken May 6 at the annual field day sports.. Miss Edit Conant, of Boston; set the new mark. at 12 4-5. seconds, — The previous Vassar record was 13 seconds flat, det i Miss F. James in 1904. The net scores of the teams in the field day contests were: 1916 first, with 41. poi 1918 second, with 36 points; 1919 third, with 26. 191% fourth, with 16 points. Miss Elizabeth Har 1916, of Newark, N. J., -Vassar’s all around champion a lete and “perfect girl, ” won. three firsts—the ba | throw, 214 feet 9 inches; basket ball throw, 80 f put, 81 feet 5 ‘inches. ~ Other 1 of still higher wages, however, by the munition makers is combing the Long Island farms of their workers, pas .
Page 28
Fame and Fortune Weekly NEW YORK, JUNE. 2, 1916. TERMS TO SUBSCRIBERS cas te piece of paper to avoid eae the envelope. your name rand addres address plainly. Address letters Hamar E Wotrr, President Worry, Treasurer Cuasius K. Nrtawpes, Secretary Frank Tousey, Publisher 168 West 23d St., N. Y. BRIEF BUT POINTED ITEMS The hydro-aeroplane which flew to Baltimore from New- port News, Va., the other Saturday, with five passengers aboard, started from Arundel Cove at 7 a. m., and made |' the return trip in’ two hours and eleven minutes, flying 173 miles, and at times attaining a speed of 106 miles’ an hour. That England is building airships of the Zeppelin type was disclosed in the House ‘of Commons by Thomas James MacNamara, financial secretary of the admiralty, in re- ply to the question of a member. Mr. MacNamara said _ that it was not in the public interest to say how many such aircraft Great Britain possessed. Traffic on all Russia’s inland waterways is to /be-cen- trally controlled, along lines already adopted for railroad ~~ communications, by a central executive committee of wa- __ terways, to be composed of a number of officials appointed by various ministries as well as by municipal and other bodies. ‘The decisions of this committee that demand “neither changes in existing laws noy financial disburse- : ments are to be carried out at once. Other decisions are to be put through with the consent of the minister of com- - Taunications. — Six iaiition five hundred thousand pounds of chicle, the sis of chewing-gum, were imported into the United States i in 1915, according to figures-compiled by the Bu- reau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce at Washington. | produet is thé dried, milky juice of the tropical sapo- | tree. - obtained | were Mexico, Canada, British Honduras, ela, and the Central American republics. Mexico da between them provided more than two-thirds ‘the total amount imported. The chicle imported into ; hp leaed during ina | The countries from which practically all of it the last ten years has cost nearly 5,00 00,000, which gives some Sten of ‘a Ap. of / FAME AND: FORTUNE : WEEKLY. The work. is being done daily by pupils and their in- structors in various grade schools, but more especially by those at technical institutions and in the manual training departments of elementary schools. Not only have they turned out large quantities of the needed cartridges, says Popular Mechanics, but they also have developed the ma- ichines for making them. Bicycles, sewing machines and” many other devices have been converted to meet their needs. The work consists of cutting hardwood into lengths that can be driven into cartridge cases provided by “the military authorities. When the wood is hammered into place the case-is inserted in a machine which punctures the neck so that the slug is held firmly. The wooden end is then slipped into the rounded form of a bullet by an- other machine. Subsequently four pin pricks are made in the cases so that dummy cartridges may be distinguished from loaded ones after the wooden ends become blackened by use. JOKES AND JESTS “Why did she leave her husband?” “He lost all his money.” “How?’ “She spent it.” : I a She—When you married me you didn’t marry a cook, I want you to understand. He (sadly)—I know it. “When Blank gets through dinner he never tips the waiter.” “That’s bravery.” “But you don’t catch him going to the same table the next day.” “That’s disere- | tion.” “You'll have to quit smoking,” said the physician. . “T don’t smoke.” “Then you'll have to quit drinking.” “I don’t drink.” “Hayen’t-you any habits?” “None at all— except taking medicine.” “Brown may have his faults, but he has the instincts of a gentleman.” “Do you think so?” “I’m sure of it. When he asks his wife to bring up a scuttle of coal he al- ways gets up and opens the door for her.” “What is a counter-irritant ?” asked Mrs. Smithers. “A counter-irritant,” replied Smithers, “is a woman who — makes the clerk pull down everything from the shelves for two hours, and then buys four cents’ worth of hairpins.” She had risen several times to let a gentleman pass out — between the acts. “I am very sorry to disturb you, ma- — dam,” he remarked, :apologetically, as he went out the — fourth time. “Oh, ‘dor’t mention it,” she replied pleas- — antly. “I am most happy to te you; my beens AS keeps the refreshment bai.” : One evening a stern father came rather hurriedly sata: ‘the parlor and was much shocked to see his daughter pe & her “voung man” occupying the same chair. “Sir,” he said, |shaking his head solemnly, “when I was courting my a5 e|she sat on one side of the room and I sat on the othe “Well,” replied the suitor, not in the least abashed, “ hat Lshowld have done if I bad hoennturins s9e
Page 29
— ee 4 f Ke pe n Aa ‘ 2 FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. et ‘ ~ peculiar about. her mouth when she smiled. What was it? . THE BEGGAR DETECTIVE. Ah! I rememher; one of her front teeth had been filed = oa away on one corner.” By D. W. Stevens The next day I inserted in the “Personals” the follow- 4 Speculation as to who had murdered George Judson had —_" ‘ long since died out.. The murder had been the usual nine days’ wonder when Judson had been found dead in a small private room of a hotel of questionable character. To this room were two entrances, one opening into a hall leading to the barroom, the other into another hall and down a private stairway to the street. _ The street door was seldom fastened. __ Judson must have entered by this door and the mur- _ derer likewise, although no living soul had observed the » latter enter or depart. At first suspicion’s finger was directed toward the pro- prietor of the place, but as nothing could be proved against _ him he was released; justly, too, I at the time decided, for I knew in my heart that, although a bad man, the pro- \ prietor had never committed this murder. _. But who had? There was the rub. , - The coroner’s jury decided thats“he came to his death at the hands of a person or persons unknown.” - And this was absolutely all that was known, two years later, by which time the circumstances were well-nigh for- - gotten. But then one day, in looking over the “Personals,” a “saw one which it struck me concealed something, and & which I read again and ponderee over. “money. If you don’t answer this, I'll tell all I know about ou J——n affair. Kate.” “That ‘J—n affair!’ What affair was that? J—n! > Can it be the Judson affair?” as the murder flashet sud- ; hie across my brain. “Thunder! What a feather it ald be in my cap if I could solve this enigma of who murdered Judson. J———n. I'll investigate this.”, My connection with the case at the time of the deed had made me acquainted with the names of some of Jud- s friends. I chanced to remember the name of one, m IT at once went to see. I found that he had been % arm friend of Judson’s. ’ Poor George!” he said. “Many a bully good time we her. . They called him just a little too wild— raps he was a trifle fast to suit the taste of a church n—but he had a good heart, had Judson.” So you’re fo “as the pee: mere. Well, Til help you all 4 + ®, ¥ = : ‘tll me, did you and: he ‘ever jane @ woman nce—Grace !” musingly. ; cy ade: Wes” ‘I know of one aie traveled-by the name*of Kate. her tetra ‘to mest ag in ste Bere where eno” that afternoon I found myself i in one of the “Kate—Meet me at the corner of Broadway and Fourth street to-night at ten. Tom.”. Full of hope, I that night hung about the designated spot until long after the hour mentioned. But Kate did not appear, nor did she the next night nor the-one fol- lowing; nor could I get her to answer numerous “Per- sonals” inserted from time to time. In the very teeth of a most auspicious beginning I was sadly balked. But I did not yet despair of success, although it was several months later before I again picked up the clew. While examining the passenger list of a steamer; and asking questions about the passengers of her last trip, for an entirely different purpose, I had described to me the very woman | was after, this very Kate. She was traveling with an elderly gentleman who bought tickets for “Nicholas Turner and wife.” ° Slight as was my grounds for supposing that this was the woman who had advertised in the “Personals,” and not knowing for a certainty whether J. much faith in the case; but I did not give them the chance to langh, for I kept the whole thing to myself. J udson had been very wealthy, and all his relations ~ “Tom—Where are you? I am in distress, and need | were rich also. They had offered a handsome reward for the miles" being brought to justice. “No, I'll keep it to myself,” I said. “If I succeed ri make a nice stake; if I fail none shall know it.” I took the next steamer for England and thence fol. lowed “Nicholas Turner and wife” to Paris. Here for a time I was at fault, for they had changed the name they sailed under to “N. T. Howell and wife.” But I caught the rclew at last, and finally tracked them to eee id 3 BS Rome. mined to do what I should have done and went to the office of the police. » I stated the case, and asked their advice toward Aisoor- ering if they still remained in Rome. “Better consult Zanfretta,” ‘s was finally told. “Who is he?” “A beggar, but just. the man you want.” D She “Where does he live?” set I received minute directions, and about three. filthiest holes T have ever seen. It was a la building, but the rooms were very small a In one of ‘them I found Zanfretta. — Soh I told him who had sent me. n meant Jud- son, I determined to follow her up. Many of my profes- _ sional brethren would have laughed at me for putting so — For many days I paced the streets hoping to get ra ee: glimpse of my birds, but as time passed on without meet- __ ing them I began to feel discouraged. Finally, I deter- | in the first ty aye
Page 30
with English-speaking people and had given him com- mand of that language. I described Kate. “She is in Rome,” he said, quietly, and yet positively. “Can you tell me anything more of her? Where she lives, and how?” A shrewd look crossed the beggar’s face. “It is usual at this stage of the business to say, how ‘much my services are worth,” he said, pointedly. “How much do you want?” “Say twenty dollars.” “T’ll make it twenty-five if you work up the case within three days.” “Done,” he said. “Ritta and myself will do it for you,” and he patted affectionately the head of a little girl, whom, up to this time, I had barely noticed. “Does she assist you?” “Yes, she is a treasure to the old beggar,” he said. “Come in three days from now, and you shall learn what you wish to know.” Taking the hint, I at once bade him good-day, and took my departure, and went to my hotel, where I at once set .. about making myself comfortable for the next three days. .'« "Don’t they make a handsome couple?” The remark drew my attention to two guests of the ho- tel. The gentleman was tall, well-built and handsome; his face was finely molded, and a heavy mustache drooped over his mouth. The lady was fairer complexioned than he was, and well merited the adjective—“beautiful.” It was said that providing the consent of the Hon. '. Ezra Church could be obtained, Thomas Corsa and Lucy . Church would be married. With a cigar between my cs lips, and the blue smoke curling spirally upward on the 3 _ soft air, I allowed my footsteps to fall in their wake. ¥ Glancing ahead, I saw the form of a beggar before the . of one of the magnificent churches of the Eternal . Standing beside him was a child—a little girl. _. - “Zanfretta!” I thought, and was about to turn my eyes _- . from him when I saw his head raised, saw the little girl keenly on some one approaching from the opposite direction. It was a woman, and alone. = * , Was it Kate? & I shrank back out of sight, but i in such a position as to __ witness what transpired. Zanfretta was supposed to be Af © bbind, but he had eyes keener than mine, in truth, and I ie. ( saw that he was _—- the woman, now almost beside ay, i gD 1 Corsa and Sites were now also near him; he was 2) 3G g towards Lucy, speaking tender words of love, “when I saw him suddenly raise his head. . The dark-com- |. plexioned woman had uttered an exclamation of surprise. Corsa started, his fist clenched, his face paled; the dark - woman darted at him a meaning look; the child watched os the trio intently, and I saw the bexgar detective’s eyes : pair Sheen, noaiieey look on them, and then his head Bui ‘ to all Spipacsorne he was the humble hmasirianss happened until the when I. visited. Zanfretta. in enewer,. whed I asked him enough. bist in the deat gr IIS mystery.» FAME AND FORTUNE WEERLY. ——— + _~. “The woman’s name is Kate Smith. She came to Rome with a man named Nicholas Turner Howell. He got tired of her and deserted her a week ago. She is from New York originally. She is well acquainted with the man who, it is said, will marry Lucy Church. Kate sent a note to his hotel, and he went to see her. She holds some power over him, or he would never have faced the public in her company. Kate’s character is well known, and Miss Church is almost heartbroken,’for her father forbids her speaking again to this Corsa.” “And how have you learned all this?” I asked, in sur- prise, for I was astonished at his having so soon informed himself about so many minor details. Again I saw that peculiar, shrewd smile cross the beg- gar’s face. “Excuse me,” he said, “but that is the secret of my business.” “True. But now where does this Kate live?” He told me; and thither I at once posted, after arming myself with the proper authority of the law. Making my way to her room I arrested her at once. “What for?” she demanded. “For being concerned in the murder of George Jud- son,” I sternly said. “Your accomplice is also in cus- tody.” “My goodness, what shall I do?” she cried, sinking down in abject terror. “Tl tell you,” I quickly said. “Make a clean breast of it, for he is seeking to save himself by laying it all on you.” “T will,” she said solemnly. You know I am not a good woman. Jud—fell in love with me. “This is how it happened: Well, Jud—poor He had lots of ‘tin,’ and sup- ported me royally. But I was not true to him, for I loved this Tom Corsa. I used to meet Jud in the place where he was murdered. I went there that night an hour earlier than -the appointed time to meet Corsa. Jud had never done so before, but that night he came earlier than the appointed time. He found Corsa there. He and Corsa had been bosom friends, and he called Corsa a treacherous thief and a traitor. Jud was angry and perhaps a little jealous. Corsa was hot-blooded. Very few words passed. It all happened quick as a flash, and there lay Jud dead.’ Corsa and I left the place unseen. Corsa gave me money and sent me West, promising to come after me in a week or so. But he never did.” “Nou advertised for Corsa in the ‘Personals,’ ” I said. . “Yes. And you saw it, then?” , “Yes. Why did you not reply to the answer signed ‘Tom’ at! “When I advertised for Tom Corsa I was in distress, hadn’t a cent in the world. But that day I met Howell, whom I had made acquaintance with out West. He re- lieved my ‘necessities, and I never looked for an answer, but got ready and came to Europe with him.” It is searcely necessary to say that I put her confession into legal shape, which enabled me to get a warrant for Tom Corsa. They were both brought back to New York, . and sentenced to life terms in Sing Sing. And thus, by the simple circumstances of seeing gree Fe in the “Personals” was solved a case which had been
Page 31
- members of the brotherhood at _ their meetings, and on one occa- . members of the brotherhood, . by _ for several weeks, and gradually ~ brotherhood became more strained, . _ with the result Mr. Cowling tent: - dered his resignation and the con- | Health Reports records the prog-_ Tess FAME AND- FORTUNE. WEEKLY. 29 NEWS OF Henry Skinner, one of Centralia’s (Kan.) boys, has on full feed now on his ranch near Medicine Lodge 5,100 head of cattle. Mr. Skinner goes down into New Mexico, buys up a big bunch of native animals, brings them up to his ranch, grasses them a while and then puts them on feed: The cattle have to be taught to eat the grain, which is done by gradually mixing the grain with alfalfa. Powdered sugar dressing for suppurating and contami- nated wounds is receiving a thorough test in the German army and has proved highly satisfactory, according to Dr. F. Hercher, who reports to the Muenchener Medizinische Wochenschrift the experiences of himself and fifty other army surgeons in the use of it. He has used it in more than one thousand cases. Dr. Hercher says that powdered sugar makes it unmecessary to rinse out or irrigate a wound, as it causes such a profuse oozing of fluid that the wound is copiously washed from within. Its efficiency is due mainly te its stimulation of secretion, and this dilutes and washes away the pus. As the result of a controversy with the members of the loval Presbyterian brotherhood over the question whether there should be smoking at the informal meetings of that body, Rev. J. A. Cowling, pastor of the Presbyte- tian Church of Jefferson City, Mo., has tendered his res- ‘ignation. Mr. Cowling was op- posed to the use of tobacco by sion openly suggested that the smoking be not permitted. The common consent, went on with the smoking at the meetings. First Startling Card Trick— Spotter Card one and _ another member Tric ibewatican Pekckoas "iresCatadian Wonder Card Trick _ would bring along a box of cigars. Flutophone—Changin g Money Caick aS asghge e en FA gyration € _ The smoking controversy went on Motise-—Seepper Ciguh — ‘The. S-- Bact mage er Came 4 ia : . Hunter Gener Mag Key, Passio Nail Head Puzzle—Star and the relations between pastor and aoa Os gregation voted to accept it . The danger of wood aleohol is ust now attracting much atten- tion, not only on the part of the _ public but also, fortunately, of leg- islative bodies. “A note in Public Ask five of you . above Weeklies. your friends and th *The tricks are t ; ment. - Any ane of of the campaign against this _ elatesive during the year 1915. . National Association of ae of | PREMIUMS GIVEN = Do you want any of the following articles? Devil’s Card Trick—Mysto Leaping ‘oO Dieerenta, It Will Not Cost You A Cent To Get One WE PUBLISH THE TN TE 4 ND FORTUNE W WEEKL “PLUCK AND LUCK.” WOR RE OHAPPY DAYS AND "MOVING PICTURE STORIES. When you have 25 cents, send it to us with the names an addresses of the five subscribers. mention the premium you have selected. We w THE DAY medicinal preparations to be used by human beings,” and in favor of such labeling as would as the public against its harmful use. ‘Two States, New Hampshire and South Dakota, each enacted a law restricting the sale of wood alcohol and prescribing a form of label to be used. The South Dakota law debars its use in any food, drink, medicine or toilet preparation intended for human use, internally or externally. The cities of New York, Chicago and Montclair, N. J., have adopted regulations or ordinances restricting its use. alcohol in While the band at Grand Meadows, each of Milwaukee, Wis., was practising in the Tqwn Hall some one opened the outer door suddenly and,.threw a lighted “bomb” among the members. The musicians ended their piece with a wail of thirty different notes and, joining the small audience, knocked over furniture and stampeded to a place of safety. Puck Crane grabbed the bomb: and tried madly to stamp out the fuse, but in vain. He dropped it and joined his fleeing mates. A minute passed | —two, three, five, ten had elapsed before one member volunteered to return cautiously to the hall to investigate. Bredthless, he approached the dark object on the floor. It was a croquet ball to which had been fastened a piece of blasting fuse. AWAY EREE ey Cards—Mysto Fade-Away Card Trick Spots—Myse,. eavy-Weight Sencile—Wire Pr ec Here is our plan: WEEKLIES: “WILD west Oe a EKLY,” “SECRET SERVIC id AND WIN” “THE LIBERTY Boys OF sf te r friends to each give you a nickel for a copy of nas of the Also send us your name and address, a ill then mail abe isin: aad e premium to you. he best made, very mystifying, and give no en dt need 4 them is worth Kind price asked sed as! yada s cana ié weno
Page 32
FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. INTERESTING. ARTICLES AN ICE MINE. “There exists at Coudersport, Pa., an ice mine. ‘peculiar coldness—even in the warmest weather—of a belief that he would find a deposit of silver. ‘The mine or cave which he unearthed proved to be 40 feet deep and from 10 to 12 feet in diameter. At present, it is entered ease of a ladder, since it is ve ores on the side of a i Geologists are not-able to Seams why the mine happens to be where it is, nor why the ice should form, in seeming Opposition to the laws of nature, in summer and melt in Winter, as it does in this instance. The ice fs formed from a peculiar cold: mist* which comes through openings found all the way from the top to the bottom of the 40- foot shaft. As soon as warm weather arrives, frost ap- pears on the walls of the shaft and soon tiny icicles form rapidly. until in the warmest weather huge icicles, often 2 feet thick, reach from the platform, at the top, to the bottom of the mine. The ice begins forming in May, and in October the thaw sets in. Tt was | largest offices. discovered some 18 years ago by a farmer who, noting a $60 annually for cats’ meat. certain portion of his farm, was led to dig there in the supplied with cats, says the Los’ Angeles Times. office Department, distributed among about fifty of the The New York office expends more than é Most of the other large Governmental buildings are At the immense cold storage depot i in Manila, cats are most neces- sary. There were sent thither some of the famous cold- storage breed from Pittsburgh. This breed originated in the great warehouses of a cold storage company, and has developed special qualifications for enduring great cold. The cold-storage cats are short-tailed, chubby, with long and heavy fur, and their eyebrows and whiskers are ex- traordinarily Jong and strong. It is said that they do not thrive when transferred to an ordinary atmosphere. COINS ONCE IN CIRCULATION. One frequently comes across the old jolly-looking big copper cents, particularly in small towng and country plaees. It was in 1857 that their coinage was discontinued by act of Congress, and late archives in the Treasury De- partment show that at the end of the last fiscal year there A shelter was erected over the mine some time ago; but! were of them outstanding over a million dollars. it had to be removed, as the ice melted when the sun’s rays were kept from the mine. The mine has been used as a cold-storage plant by the wife of the farmer, and she claims that eggs have been kept seven months in the natural’ refrigerator and at the end of that period found to be in perfect condition. Dur- ing the summer the temperature of the mine ranges from 25 to 30 deg. above zero. This mine, notwithstanding the fact that it is open at the top, is-warm enough on the ~ oldest wahiar’d day to’ keep raeee without freezing, : UNCLE SAWS CATS. e Le not ‘generally known that Uncke Sam maintains 2 snd provides for a corps of cats. These cats, regularly ‘attached to the army, are kept in the commissary depots -. of. the great cities, and ouch: draws regular pay amounting to $18.25 a year. | Now it is customary tes the officer in charge of each ro depot to submit to the War Departmeat a request for an allowance for ‘so many cats, and the army regulations pro- vide that meat shall be purchased for them at a price not / greater than 5 cents a pound. To these rations a stated amount of canned milk is added for variety. It has been demonstrated by experiment that, no matter La the cats are as hunters now, how abundant the no sat thrives’ mouse, nor ovided. Bids for cats’ meat are regularly posted, calling! “fresh beef suitable for feeding cats, bones to be ex- to he delivered at the contractor's place of business as may be designated, and in such ees Further coinage of the half-cent coins ended at the same time. The total amount uf these coined all together jwas about $40,000,000, speaking in round numbers. The {away somewhere to serve as relics, of cats are inthe employ of the Pasion ver a million anda half dollars of two-cent. pieces were of bronze metal, ‘Pheir enforced re- tirement from commercial activity began in 1873, since © which date the mints have\not been busy with their. manu- facture. The little silver three-cent pieces trouble the marts no Jonger, though some of them may be hidden Their coimage began in 1857 and continued until February, 1873. The smil- ing, little silver half-dime, the coinage of which began over a century ago, received its quietus, so far as its manu- facture was concerned, at the same date as the three-cent silver piece. ‘ Other of these minor‘ coins that have had their day are in honorable retirement in the hoards of collectors, in museums and elsewhere. Among these are the nickel three- — cent pieces and the little old -gray-faced nickel cents, though it is easy to rum across cne of these little coins oéeasionally. Their making at the mints lasted from 1857 to 1864. Then there used to be a silver twenty-cent piece. This is also among the list’of “has-beens.” ; Many of course can remember the days of the infants of coinage, the one-dollar piece that was in the habit of losing itself, so little it was, in the vest pocket or in any rly on a diet of unmitigated) other part of one’s apparel where it was allowed tp Vie does it niet i its duties when other food is| around loose. There were about nineteen millions of the babies coined. Where are they roaming now? Then there was at one time a three-dollar gold coin. Their — manufaéture was discontinued by an act of : passed on’ Sept. 26, 1880, the same date that marked the — a: beginning of the end of the gold dollar. Ina
Page 33
i atting Fests; “No Hit” games; exciting finishes. Played with ordinary playing-cards; one to eighteen paper. Play World’s Series, Spring Series, etc., at ~ || PLAY BALL! With “BATTING” THE NOMATCH LIGHTER | iecsyecmtec-iptm rita i =e € \ P eye i il d ~~ out 7 & " o 4 + zy ee PORN ee a Pee eee Le NL eS ee ie
Page 34
AA MAGAZINE CONTAINING STORIES. SKETCHES Etc. OF WESTERN LIFE. FRANK TOUSEY, PUBLISHER, 168 WEST 23D STREET, NEW YORK No. 711. NEW yee , JUNE 2, 1916. Price 5 Cents. SILVERMINE. ch jyrgeos ae OTHER STORIES &
Page 35
bee we Wa LE Se ape
Page 36
. . ETIQUETTE.—It — LATEST ISSUES— 528 * 8 497 Adrift on the World; or, Working His Way to Fortune. Ree fore nn? oe ten So Playing to wis 5 or, ane moxie y ih Wall Street. 531 Every Inch a Boy; o1 atters; or, oy from the Slums. b é 500 A Young Monte Cristo; or, The Richest Boy In the World. oor On to. BugcenNs Or. 2 3 - So» “4 Diamond Cut Diamond: or. The ‘Boy Brokers of Wal! Street Boy’s Ambition. idas of Wall Street. or, Doing His Level Best. The Boy Who Got Ahead. An Eye to Business; or, The Boy Who Was Not Asleep. 501 Wom by Pluck; or, The Boys Who Ran a Railroad. 534 Tipped by the Ticker; or, An Ambitious Boy in Wall Street. 502 Beating the Brokers; or, ¢ Boy Who “Couldn't Be Done.” | 535 Money to Burn; or, The Shrewdest Boy in Wall Street. 503 A Rolling Stone; or, The Brightest Boy on Record. | 536 A Bid for a Fortune: or,.A Country Boy in Wall Street. 504 Never Say Die: or, The Young Surveyor of Happy Valley. 537 Bound to Rise; or, Fighting His roy to Success. 505 Boss ef the Market; or, The Greatest Boy in Wall Street. 538 Out for the Dollars; or, A Smart Boy in Wall Street. 506 The Chance of His Life: or, The Young Pilot of Crytal Lake. 539 For Fame and Fortune; or, The Boy Who Won Both on Sere ee wortane: ae yin a ic— | to oe 540 A Wall Street Winner; or, Making a Mint of Money usiness: of, The Smarte y in Town. , y 50 A Favorite of Fortune; or, Striking It Rich In Wall Street. 542 On tho Wing: Or, Tha Young: Mercury of Wall Skreet « 510 Threugh Thick and Thin; or, The Adventures of a Smart Boy 543 A Chase for a Fortune; or, The Boy Who Hustled. oy Doing His Levei Best: or, Working His Was > 544 Juggling with the Market; or, The Boy Who Made it Pay. ee Always on Deck: or, The wg | Who Made His Mark 545 Cast Adrift; or, The Luck of a Homeless Boy. 13 A Mint of Money; or, The Young Wal! Street Broker 546 Playing the Market; or, A Keen Boy in Wall Street. 514 The Ladder of Fame: or, From Office Boy to Senator 547 A Pot of aca © or, The Legacy of a Lucky pox, 515 On the are: or, The Success of an Honest Bo 548 From Rags to Riches: or, A Lucky Wall Street Messenger. 516 After a Fortune; or, The Pluckiest Boy tn the West 549 On His Merits; or, The Smartest Boy Alive. 517 Winning the Dollars; or, The Young Wonder of Wal! Street 550 Trapping the Brokers; or, A Game Wall Street Boy. 518 Making His Mark; or, The Boy Who Became President 551 A lion in Gold; or, The Treasure of Santa Cruz. 519 Heir to a Million; or, The Boy Who Was Born Lucky. 552 Bound to Make Money; or, From the West to Wall Street. 520 Lost in the Andes; or, The Treasure of the Buried City. 553 The Boy Magnate ; or tf Baseball Pay. 521 On His Mettle; or, A Plucky Boy in Wall Street 554 Making Money; or; A Wall Street Messenger’s Luck. 522 A Lucky Chance: or, Taking Fortune on the Wing. 555 A Harvest of Gold; or, The Buried Treasure of Cora! Island. 3 The Road to Success; or, The Career of a weltuuste Roy. 556 On the Curb; or, Beating the Wall Street Brokers. 524 Chasing Pointers: or, The Iuckiest Boy In Wall Street. 557 A Freak of Fortune; or, The Boy Who Struck Luck. 525 Rising in the World: or, From Factory Boy to Manager 558 The Prince of Wall Street: or, A Big Deal for Big Money. 526 From Dark to Dawn; or, A Poor Boy’s Chance. 559 Starting His Own Business; or, The Boy Who Caught On. 527 Out for Himself; or, Paving His Way to Fortune. “560 A Corner in Stock; or, The Wall Street Boy Who Won. For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any address on receipt of price, 5 cents per copy, in money or postage stamps, by FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, - 168 West 23d St., N. ¥. IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS of our weeklies and cannot procure them from newsdealers, they can be obtained from this office direct. Write out and fill in your Order and send it to us with the price of the weeklies you want and we will send them to you by return mail. POST- AGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY. FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, - 168 West 23d St., N. ¥. oUF TEN-CENWT HAND BOOES Ne. 1. NAPOLEON’S ORACULUM AND DREAM BOOK.—Containing the great oracie of human destiny; also the true meaning of almost any kind of dreams, together with charms, ceremonies, and curious games of cards. No. 2 HOW TO DO TRICKS.—The great book of magic and card tricks, containing full instruction on all the leading card tricks of the day, also the most 3. HOW TO FLIRT.—The arts and wiles of filrtation are fully explained by this little book. Besides the various methods of handkerchief, fan, glove, parasol, window and hat flirtation, it contains a full list of the and sentiment of flowers. No. HOW TO DANCE is the title of this little book, It contains full instructions in, the art of dancing, etiquette in the ball- room at rties, how to dress, and full and pa: ‘directions for calling off in all popular square danees. No. 5. HOW TO MAKE LOVE.—A com- Plete guide to love, courtship and marriage, giving sensible advice, rules and etiquette to be observed, with many curious and interest- a» things not generally known. o. 6 HOW TO BECOME AN ATHLETE. —Giving full instruction for the use of dumb- belis, Indian clubs, parallel bars, horizontal bare and various other methods of developing a goed, healthy muscle; containing over sixty No. 7. HOW TO KEEP BIRDS.—Hand- somely iMustrated and containing full instruc- tions fer the management and training of the canary, meckingbird, b6bolink, blackbird, Pparoquet, tow’ etc. No. 9. OW TO BECOME A _ VENTRILO- y. Every intelli- this book of instructions can any amount of fun It is the greatest HOW TO BOX.—The art of self- defense made easy. Containing over thirty oe, and the differ- one ive beeks, as it will teach you how to box without an instructor. No. 11. HOW TO WRITE LOVE- poe plete little containing full ‘or writing love-letters, and when to use ay giving letters young 12. HOW TO- LETTERS TO LADIES.—Giving a on arecoas for F of introduction, notes : 13. HOW TO DO IT; OR, OF is a great life secret, and one that every young man desires to know all about. There’s happiness in it. No. 14. HOW TO MAKE CANDY.—A com- Plete hand-book for making all kinds of candy, ice-cream, syrups, essences, etc., etc. No. 18. HOW TO BECOME BEAUTIFUL. —One of the brightest and most valuable little books ever given to the world. Every- body wishes to know how to become beaut!- ful, both male and female. The secret is simple, and almost costless. ~No. 20. HOW TO ENTERTAIN AN EVE- NING PARTY.—A complete compendium of games, sports, card diversions, comic recita- tions, ‘etc., suitable for parlor or drawing- room entertainment. It contains more for the money than any book published. No. 21. HOW TO HUNT AND FISH.—The most complete hunting and fishing guide ever published. It contains full instructions about ns, hunting dogs, traps, trapping and fish- 2e, together with description of game and sh. No. 22. HOW TO DO SECOND SIGHT.— Heller’s second sight explained by his former assistant, Fred Hunt, Jr. Explaining how the secret dialogues were carried on between the magician and the bey on the stage; also giv- ich all the codes and signals. o. 23. HOW TO EXPLAIN DREAMS.— This little book gives the explanation to all kinds of dreams, together with lucky and unlucky days. 0. is OW TO WRITE LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN,—Containing full directions for writing to_gentlemen on all subjects. ‘o. 25. HOW TO BECO. A GYMNAST.— Containing full instructions fer all kinds of gymnastic sports and athletic exercises. Em- bracing thirty-five illustrations. By Professor W. Macdonald. No. 26. HOW TO ROW, SAIL AND BUILD A BOAT.—Fully illustrated. Full instructions are given in this little book, together with in- structions on swimming and riding, companion sports to boating. No, 27. HOW TO AND BOOK OF the most populer RECITE RECITATIONS.—Containin, selections in use, comprising Dutch dialect, Slocen, together’ with many standard readings together w man: an ngs. No. 23. HOW TO TELL FORTUNES.— is desirous of knowing what his future life will bring forth, whether happiness wealth or poverty. You can tell! lance at this little book. Buy one and con No, 29. HOW TO BECOME AN INVENTOR. —Every boy should know how inventions orig- ted. This book explains them ell, giving examples in electricity, hydraulics. magnet- iam, tics, pneumatics, mechanics, etc. No. 30. HOW TO COOK.—One of the most instructive books on cooking ever published. It contains recipes for cooking meats, fish, game, and oysters; also pies, puddings, cakes and all kinds of pastry, and a grand collec- tion of recipes. No. 31. OW TO BECOME A SPEAKER. —Containing fourteen illustrations, giving the different positions requisite to become a good speaker, reader and elocutionist. Also con- taining gems from all the popular authors of prose and poetry. o. 32. HO TO RIDE A _ BICYCLE.— Containing instructions for beginners, choice of a machine, hints on ia © etc. A com- plete book. Full of practical! illustrations. No. 35. HOW TO PLAY GAMES.—A com- plete and usefu! little book, containing the rules and regulations of billiards. bagatelle, backgammon, croquet, dominoes, etc. No, 36. HOW SOLVE CONUNDRUMS. —Centaining all the leading conundrums of the day, amusing riddles, curious catches ‘and witty sayings. No. 38. HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN R.—A wonderful book, containing use- ful and praetca! information in the treatment of and ailments common te . every f: ly. Abounding in useful and effec- tive recipes for ral complaints. - No. 39. HOW RAISE DOGS, POULTRY, — PIGEONS —A useful and in- structive book. Handsomely illustrated. No. 40. HOW TO MAKE AND SET TRAPS. —Including hints’ on how to catch moies, weasels, otter, rats, squirrels and birds. Also how to cure skins. Copiously {!lustrated. No. 41. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK END MEN’S JOKE BOOK.—Containing a great va- riety of the latest jokes used by the most famous end men. © amateur minstreis ts complete without this wonderful little book. No. 42. THE BOYS OF NEW YORE STUMP SPEAKFR.—Containing @ varied as- sortment of stump speeches, Ne . Dutch and Irish. Also end men’s jokes. Just the thing for home amusement and amateur shows. wae wants To tthe lm MAGICIAN. —Centaining the grand assortmen ical illusions ever placed before pantie? Also tricks with cards, incantations, ete. No. 44. HOW TO WRITE IN AN AL- BUM.—A grand collection of Album Verses suitable for any time and occasion; embrac- ing Lines of Affection, Sentiment, Hu- mor, Respect, Condolence, Suitable for Valentines and Weddings. No. 45. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK MIN- STREL —Some- GUIDE aS 4 BOOK. fi new and very Tructive. Every aioek obtain this book, as it contains ru for organizing an amateur min- ~~. also Verses . 168 West 23d St. N.Y. F